Treatment for Severe Dry Eye

Dry eye is a chronic condition, but doctor will prescribe a treatment to keep the eyes healthy & comfortable and to prevent the vision from being affected.
The primary approaches used to manage & treat the dry eyes which include adding tears by using over-the-counter artificial tear solutions, increasing tear production, conserving tears and treating the inflammation of eyelids or eye surface which contributes to the dry eyes.

• Adding tears: Mild cases of dry eyes may generally be managed by using over-the-counter artificial tear solutions. These can be used as frequent as needed to the supplement of natural tear production. A preservative-free artificial tear solution is recommended because they contain fewer additives, that can further irritate the eyes.
  People with dry eyes don't respond to the artificial tears alone will need to take more steps to treat their dry eyes.
• Conserving tears: Keeping the natural tears in the eyes longer will reduce the symptoms of the dry eyes. This will be done by blocking the tear ducts by which the tears will normally drain. The tear ducts can be blocked with the help of tiny silicone or gel-like plugs which can be removed, if needed. Or a surgical treatment can permanently close tear ducts. In either of the cases, the goal is to keep the available tears in eye longer to decrease the problems related to dry eyes.
• Increasing tear production: Your doctor will prescribe you eye drops which increase the tear production. By taking an omega-3 fatty acid nutritional supplement will also help.
• Treating the contributing eyelid or ocular surface inflammation: Your doctor may recommend prescription of eye drops or ointments, warm compresses & lid massage, or eyelid cleaners this will help you to decrease the inflammation around the surface of eyes.