It’s that time of year again! While dry eyes can happen any time of the year, spring is a hard season for many people, especially if they have allergies and react to the pollen in the air. If you suffer from dry eyes, All About Eyes has solutions for you!

What are Dry Eyes?

Dry eyes can happen for a variety of reasons. From environmental factors like wind, smoke, or air conditioning to age-related (being over 50) to side effects of medications or looking at a computer screen for too long, a lack of tears production can make your eyes feel gritty, sore, and itchy.

Solutions

While there are some at-home remedies you can do, such as using a humidifier to add moisture to the air, or remove contact lenses to give your eyes a rest, or take screen-time breaks, sometimes, those aren’t enough and you need to move to the next level of care.

At your pharmacy, there are over-the-counter artificial tears as the next line of defense against dry eyes and some new supplements available (Blink from Bausch and Lomb) that may offer the relief you need. If you’ve tried those, and are still suffering from dry eyes, then it’s time to visit your eye-care professional for a check-up to determine your specific cause of dry eyes and consider prescription medication.

Two new products on the market offer relief for dry eyes: Miebo and Tyrvaya (available as a nasal spray). Restasis and Xiidra have been around for a while, and offer relief as well. Again, different prescriptions target different causes of dry eyes, so it’s important to meet with your doctor to find which solution is right for you!