A Sight for Sore Eyes

Do any of these painful eye conditions sound familiar to you?

• Grittiness
• Scratchiness
• Redness
• Excessive tear production
• Soreness or irritation
• Burning
• Tiredness
• Sensitivity to light
• Burning
• Changes in vision

These may be symptoms of an underlying condition called Dry Eye.

They can be varied both in nature and severity and can also vary between different environments and tasks.

Sometimes these symptoms only occur in warm, dry, air conditioned environments or when certain tasks such as reading, using a computer or driving have been undertaken to a significant degree, disappearing once the cause of the problem is removed.  However, sometimes these symptoms persist, even once the trigger has been removed.

Getting an accurate diagnosis can be difficult as many patients do not associate these symptoms with eye dryness.


The good news is that if these symptoms sound familiar, help is available.

Firstly the exact cause of the problem needs to be established.

There is more than one form of Dry Eye.

The eye may not be producing enough tears, or the quality of those tears being produced may be reduced, or a combination of both.

Factors that can affect your tears can include

• Diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and diabetes
• Hormonal Imbalances
• Skin conditions
• Medications
• Increasing age
• Eye and eyelid infections and inflammations

What should I do next ?

Arrange an appointment for a Dry Eye Assessment with you Optician.

Here at James Doyle Opticians, Wilmslow we offer a dedicated specialist evaluation of your Dry Eyes. Your

appointment will involve the following steps

• Taking down your health information and a medical history
• Details of your symptoms and occurrence
• Past treatments you have tried
• Your tear quantity and quality assessment
• Microscopic examination of the front of your eye
• Microscopic examination of your eye lids

At the end of this assessment a treatment plan will be drawn up and discussed with you.  You will be given full instruction on how to obtain the maximum benefit from the treatments being prescribed, which you can easily administer at home and finally a follow up appointment will be arranged to monitor the improvements in your condition.