HELP FOR DRY EYES
Hello, friends!
Dry Eyes can be excruciating at worst, annoying at any level. It is also called SICCA Syndrome or DES. The symptoms are irritated, dry, red, itchy eyes….it can feel as though you have actual grains of sand in your eyes. And your eyes can become very sensitive to light.
I’ve had dry eyes…I know how miserable I felt. You may have tried to treat yourself with eye drops….but this is just putting a Band Aid on the problem.
Let’s learn some natural long-term treatments!
Okay…what is the cause of dry eyes & what can be done?
Hormones are key!
60% of menopausal women have experienced dry eyes. That’s a lot of us! However, they can begin earlier…in perimenopause when hormones begin to fluctuate. Hormones are vital to eye health, especially testosterone and estrogen.
Before menopause it is known that the greater your testosterone, the fewer tears you produce and the greater your estrogen, the greater your tears. Think about it…girls cry more than boys! After menopause, this REVERSES and the greater your testosterone, the greater your tears. If your estrogen gets out of balance and becomes dominant, then the less tears you produce and dry eyes can occur. That is why women who used HRT with synthetic estrogen such as Premarin had 4-7 times greater incidence of dry eye.
Dry eye symptoms go along with other menopausal signs of “drying,” such as sore joints and dry vaginal tissues. One way to help remedy your dry eyes & even find permanent relief is to restore a natural balance among estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.
As mentioned, testosterone deficiency will cause dry eye. Low testosterone also causes low libido, so now you are really suffering.
What can help you raise testosterone that you can purchase without a prescription? DHEA. It is a natural hormone that can increase testosterone levels in women. Scientists feel it can be helpful to reduce and reverse DES.
Also, use your progesterone crème. Progesterone keeps you in balance. Any decrease in hormones can be helped with progesterone. I added DHEA to my progesterone and no more dry eye for me!
Ok, quickly, what are some other causes of DES?
Reading or computer work (you may not blink enough to redistribute eye fluid) Try to blink every five seconds, especially when staring at your computer screen, Kindle, or iPad
Living and/or working in dry environments
Contact lenses that absorb eye fluids
LASIK eye surgery, which cuts nerves and reduces blinking
Allergy drugs, diuretics, beta-blockers, birth control pills, or other drugs. If you are on prescription drugs, talk to your healthcare provider to see if anything might be causing your dry eyes. There could be alternate medications. Hopefully, something natural! God’s pharmacy for us!
Diets poor in essential fatty acids
Auto Immune diseases such as lupus and arthritis
What about Artificial Tears? Ok fine…get the ones without chemicals. I like Visine Tears, Dry Eye Relief – natural tears formula with glycerin which is found in natural tears.
Clarion call to all Moms, Grandmas, Aunties:
Children who spend more time on smart phones and less times out doors are more prone to dry eye. Smartphones have a short watching distance due to their small screens which tires the eyes. Stop the madness. 37 minutes per day was the cutoff point. After that, they are susceptible to dry eye syndrome.
Okay, what else can perimenopausal and menopausal women do?
SUPPLEMENTS:
EFA
Flax seed oil 1000 mg 1-3 x day or Borage Oil (GLA). Borage is my favorite.
Vit E 400 iu / day
Don’t suffer any longer. Give yourself some EYE LOVE.
Blessings,
Barbara