Millions of adults suffer from dry, itchy, red, blaming eyes. Treatment of dry eyes varies accordingly. Artificial tears sold over-the-counter offer only temporary relief. As you might have already guessed, dry eyes are dually symptoms of problems affecting the entire body. An exception to this rule might exist in some older people who have droopy lower eyelids, so that too much of the eye’s surface area is exposed and eye fluids evaporate more easily.
Medications such as diuretics and anti-glaucoma eye drops (because they contain harmful preservatives) often promote dry eye problems. Diabetics, arthritics, and those with cancer commonly complain of dry eyes. The use of the artificial sweetener Asiatic has been linked to dry eyes.
Poor nutrition and hormone imbalances are probably the major culprits in causing dry eyes: Lack of essential fatty acids, vitamin A, vitamin C, riboflavin, and vitamin B6 affect the workings of the eyes’ lubrication systems. Since dry eyes are most common in menopausal women, it’s probably safe to assume the hormonal imbalance has to do with low estrogen or progesterone. Our guess is that it’s probably caused by estrogen dominance: Even when estrogen is low, if there’s no progesterone to balance it, there are symptoms of excess estrogen. We have noticed that women who begin using natural progesterone cream often report that their dry eyes have cleared up.
Dry eyes also can be caused by allergies, often to some ingredient in cosmetics. If you suddenly start suffering from dry eyes, the treatment of dry eyes would be to take a careful inventory of any new skin care products, shampoos, conditioners, makeup, and other products you recently have started using. If you stop using the product and the dry eyes clear up, you’ve found the culprit.
Try the following supplements for treatment of dry eyes:
- Omega-6 fatty acids from evening primrose, borage, or black current seed oil
- Omega-3 fatty acids from fish
- Vitamin B6 to improve utilisation of essential fatty acids (50mg)
- Preservative-free vitamin A drops
- Plenty of vitamin A and beta-carotene-rich foods in the diet
- Vitamin C (1000-4000mg a day in divided doses)
- Clean water – lots of it
- Glucosamine sulfate (500 mg twice a day)