Table of contents
- Lubricating eyedrops
- Yes, artificial tears will help your watery eye
- Warm compresses
- Is this ptosis?
1. Lubricating eyedrops (by arcadeflyer)
An amazing majority of non-serious eye issues can be resolved by using artificial tears. Some pointers:
- The brand does not matter
- The contents do; do NOT get anything that says it is for “redness relief” or has an “astringent” in it. Just get “ocular lubricants” only. There are some combination products that have both. Don’t use those either.
- Some are thicker than others. Eyedrops are liquid. Gel drops feel thicker. Ointments are the thickest. Your vision may get temporarily blurry with the thicker stuff, ointment in particular.
- You can take them a few times a day. If using a bottle, take them up to 4 times a day. If using more often than that, then use non-preserved formulations (the vials with the twist-off cap).
Be advised: there are no pharmaceutically active medications in artificial tears. So you do not need a prescription for them; you can get them in the pharmacy over the counter aisles. If they don’t help your problem even a little bit, then something else is going on and you should see an eye doctor.For quick instant relief, use artificial tears.
2. Yes, artificial tears will help your watery eye (by arcadeflyer)
Quick rundown of why this is the case. I know it’s counterintuitive.
The eye surface should always be moisturized with a thin layer of tears. That tear layer ought to stick to the surface evenly on its own. In lots of people, it doesn’t. Instead, it either evaporated off the surface or it rolls right off the surface and down your cheek.
Most people call this dry eye. I had a mentor once who hated that term. For good reason! It’s confusing. “How can my eyes be dry if they’re watering all the time?” He (and I) prefer instead the term “dysfunctional tear syndrome.” Your tears aren’t sticking to the surface of your eye like they ought to.
3. Warm compresses (by arcadeflyer)
Warm compresses are just clean washcloths rinsed in warm water, held gently against your closed eyelids for about 5-10 minutes at a time, 2 to 3 times a day. For most ocular surface instability problems, the instability comes from the Meibomian glands in the eyelids being plugged up. Those glands usually secrete oils that mix in with your natural tear film to stabilize it. When the glands are plugged, the oils don’t mix well, and that causes the instability. Symptoms from this instability are all over the place: pain, double vision, glare, haloes, blurry vision. This treatment actually works better than the artificial tears for fixing it in the long term (the artificial tears only help the symptom in the short term) but these warm compresses need to be done very consistently and for a while to actually have a good effect.For long term amelioration, use warm compresses and stick to them.
4. Is this ptosis? (by EyeDentistAAO & kingcornea)
This question is asked a lot, and the answer is the usual one: Based on the info provided, no one can say with certainty. Consider: The next time you’re watching a close-up of someone’s face on TV, pause the image at random moments and check out their lids—ou will definitely have some freeze-frames in which their lid margins are not aligned. If you were to judge by that one image, you’’ say they have ptosis. But when you watch them live, it’’ clear they don’t. If the appearance of your eyelids is bothersome to you, go see an ophthalmologist and get a proper evaluation.Ptosis is not common among young people. 7.9 per 100,000 for someone 19 and under for congenital ptosis. Most posts are from young adults worried about their appearance. Most are too young to have medical causes.
TL;DR A diagnosis of ptosis can be made only via a series of measurements acquired during an in-person exam.