Hi I’m Dr. Michele Lee, a board-certified
ophthalmologist, and in this video we are going to talk about five dry eye treatments
you can do at home and without a prescription - all natural, safe, and effective. Before I get started, please like and subscribe
to my channel, where I post a new video every Saturday about eye health and disease. The first dry eye treatment that you can do
at home is to apply a warm compress to your eyelids. There are certain conditions, like ocular
rosacea, where you may want to use this treatment sparingly, but for most cases of dry eye this
can be very helpful. Warm compresses help with blocked meibomian,
or oil, glands that we all have on our upper and lower eyelids. The lack of oil in our tear film causes quick
evaporation of our tears that can lead to a type of dry eye where you make tears but
not good quality tears that don’t really do a good job lubricating your eyes. My first tip for this is to use warm, not
hot, compresses. Check the temperature with the back of your
wrist or elbow to make sure you don’t burn your eyelids. You want to make sure you have at least 5
minutes of heat to your eyelids per session, and I would recommend you do this one to two
times a day for best results. There are a few ways you can make a warm compress. You can use a clean washcloth and run warm
water from your sink, bath, or shower and apply the washcloth directly on your eyelids,
rewetting with warm water when needed. A more elegant way to do a warm compress is
to buy a special eye mask. I recommend the Dr. Bruder mask, and I’ve
linked this down below. A poor man’s version of this mask is to
use a clean tube sock, fill it with rice, and tie the end with a string. You can microwave the mask or sock contraption
for 20-30 seconds and apply to your eyelids, with or without a thin towel in between the
warm mask and your eyelids. This contraption will retain heat longer than
a wet washcloth. The next dry eye treatment is to work on creating
an environment that is helping, not hurting, your eyes. I live and practice in Arizona, which is one
of the driest states in the United States, and almost every patient I see here has some
degree of dry eye just from living in such a dry climate. I frequently recommend getting a humidifier
at home or at work to moisten the environment and help decrease evaporation of tears from
the eye. Another important tip is minimizing air conditioners,
heaters, and fans blowing directly into the eyes since these will really dry out your
tears and worsen your dry eye symptoms! You should also consider changing your diet
to help with your dry eye symptoms. The easiest thing you can do is to drink more
water and stay hydrated. Also, while controversial at the moment, I
don’t think it would hurt to eat foods with more omega-3 fatty acids and flaxseed oil,
since there is some evidence that this change can make a difference for some cases of dry
eye. Another important treatment is giving your
eyes a chance to rest. Not only should you be getting a good night’s
sleep, when we are reading or on the computer or phone, we are staring a lot and our blink
rate goes down. This can cause tears to evaporate from your
eyes and can really dry out your eyes and blur your vision. The easiest thing you can do is to close your
eyes for a few seconds when your eyes start to feel tired or dry. This gives your tears a chance to lubricate
your corneas and your eyes get a chance to rest. The most important dry eye treatment I have
is to lubricate your eyes with over-the-counter preservative-free tears and ointments. This is going to be the first treatment your
eye doctor will suggest for any dry eye symptom, and preservative-free artificial tears are
extremely safe and effective for pretty much all types of dry eye. Also, if you wake up in the morning with eye
pain or irritation, or sleep with your eyes partially open, you might be drying out your
eyes at night. I would recommend an ointment or gel. You can put a small amount, about the size
of a grain of uncooked rice, in this inner pocket between your eye and lower eyelid right
before you go to sleep. This will make your vision blurry and your
eyes sticky when you blink, so this is best done right before you go to sleep or take
a nap. If all of these at-home tips and tricks fail,
it is time to see your eye care provider since we have a lot of great treatments available
to help with your unique case of dry eye. Do you have dry eye, and has there been a
treatment or lifestyle change that has worked well for you? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for watching my video, remember to
like and subscribe, and I’ll see you in my next video. Bye!
