Dry eyes at night

A Thing or Two about Dry Eyes at Night

Having dry eyes at night is quite abothersome condition since your eyes need to be moist mostof the time in order for them to be healthy. Basically, there aretear glands in our ocular area which produce tears. They keepthe eyes wet, clean and protected. Tears are transferred viatear ducts which lead the tears onto the surface of the eye,moisturizing it. Sometimes, however, we might experience healthproblems which make our tear ducts clogged, or we might spend time inenvironments which cause our tears to evaporate quickly. Moreover, wemight have insufficient tears produced or just a part of the eye areacovered by them. All these factors, and plenty more contribute tothis problem referred to as dry eyes. This condition usually affectsolder people and it mainly strikes one during the night. The lack oftears does little to damage the eyes, yet it causes irritation and discomfort.

Reasons behind Dry Eyes at Night

People who suffer from these problemsusually experience their eyes getting stuck to the eyelids in themorning. Also, mucus discharge can be increased due to the lack oftears. This can lead to one's feeling discomfort and tired look inthe eyes even after having a good night sleep. However, there areplenty more causes of this unpleasant problem. Many of these maymanifest during the day as well, escalating during the nightnevertheless.

Your eyes may burn and get irritated byallergens and irritants such as cigarette smoke, wind, dust and othersimilar things. This irritation is much stronger than what you feel when your eyes are well hydrated. Subsequently, your eyes willquickly become tired and irritated after staring at a computer screenor TV for even a short time. Reading books will have the same effect.Since sometimes your tears may not get delivered evenly over youreyes, you might have excessive tears in some parts of them, causingyour eyes to be watery, while, at the same time, being dry in someother areas.

Finally, itching, light sensitivity,uncomfortable feeling while wearing lenses and a sensation similar tothe one you experience when you have a foreign object in your eye,can all be present and potential symptoms of dry eyes at night.

Prolonged usage of computers orwatching TV for a long time without blinking can cause this problemin the long run. Also, some underlying diseases like rheumatoidarthritis and lupus can be the reasons behind this problem.Additionally, contact lenses, certain medications and hormonalchanges in menopause, add on to the list of possible culprits too.

If you start experiencing theseproblems, you should visit your doctor as soon as possible and haveyour eyes examined.