Dry Eye Syndrome
It is easy for people to experience dry eyes these days.
Dry eyes can be caused by high heat, wearing contact lenses for too long, dust and wind and aging. It could also be a symptom of other more serious problems.
In any case, the common experience is feeling the eye irritated, redness in the eye and the feeling of a foreign object in the eye.
Dry eye is ultimately due to the eye not being able to produce enough moisture due to one of the aforementioned problems. Staring at a computer screen can also affect the eye in this way, because people tend to blink less when looking at a screen. If you combine multiple common causes that everybody can be easily exposed to (heat, contact lens wearing, and computer) then you might understand why you eye has been feeling very dry for the past few days.
What to do
- Drink plenty of water: water can help producing more moisture in the eye.
- Avoid wearing contact lenses: if possible, switch back to your glasses for a few days.
- Limit staring at the computer: this is a hard one if you work in an office. However, try to take small eye breaks (i.e. look at something else for a little while every 10 to 15 minutes), or consciously try make the effort to blink more when looking at the screen. You might also want to consider changing the settings in your computer so that your screen is not too bright, and adjusting the screen to a father distance.
- Buy Artificial Tears: they might help moisture the eye more quickly. For best results, apply them without having your contact lenses on.
- Get omega-3 fatty acids: you can take them as a supplement or you can have meals based on salmon or sardines. These acids help reduce the risk of dry eyes
If you think your dry eyes are due to the hot environment:
Other ways to reduce dry eyes are to buy a set of sunglasses that might help get rid of the problem as they help lock moisture in, especially if you know your dry eyes are due to the environment. Another option is to buy a humidifier and/or an air cleaner.
Obviously, if you think you got dry eyes after wearing contact lenses, you might want to consider switching to another brand. In the same way, if you are taking medication that you think has affected your eye in this way, talk to your doctor as you might want to discontinue it.
More information on dry eyes can be found on this page: http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/dryeye.htm
In any case, if you are worried, your lifestyle is getting affected by the condition or if you think you’ve had dry eyes for a long time, talk to your optometrist.
Oculolinctus
Recently a few newspapers in the UK started talking about the new Japanese fetish called “oculolinctus”. It is also called ‘worming’ informally.
Basically, it consists of licking other people’s eyeballs for sexual purpose. As the eye is full of nerve endings, it is supposed to turn people on and bring them pleasure. Inasmuch as the eye is indeed full of nerve endings, we really discourage anyone from trying this, as the receiver of this ‘practice’ can really get his/her eye damaged!
The eye is a very sensitive organ, and it is easy to imbalance its natural state and chemistry. For example, wearing heavy cheap eye make-up all the time, not drinking enough or staring too much at a computer or TV screen are all things that should be avoided when trying to take care of your eyes.
This is why apparently Japanese teenagers and young adults practising this new “sexual activity” have to wear eye patches afterwards.
Be aware that the eye gets swollen, red and you can also catch infections such as chlamydia if you try this. In the worst cases, you might even end up blind. Please don’t try this.