Women Much More Vulnerable to Dry Eye Syndrome
If She's Batting Her Eyes at You, It Might Not Be What You Think

Everyone experiences the symptoms of burning, irritable eyes, the sensation that something is actually scratching the eye. But for some 3 million American women, the symptoms are chronic, according to Dr. Paul Snyder, therapeutic optometrist.

These women suffer from dry eye syndrome.

"Tears are essential for good eye health," Snyder said. "They lubricate the eye, protect it from infections and wash away allergens. With dry eye syndrome, the eyes produce too few tears or tears of such poor quality that they don't stay on the eye," he said. "Ironically, some people with dry eye syndrome may actually experience tears running down their cheeks."

Everyone experiences reduced tear production as they age, but women are more prone to dry eye syndrome than men by a 3-to-1 margin. Studies have shown that hormone therapy may increase the incidence of dry eye syndrome, as can birth control pills, blood pressure medicines, antihistamines and certain antidepressants.

"April is Women's Eye Health Awareness Month, and we want women to know there are several options for managing dry eye syndrome," Snyder said.

Those options include lubricating drops that can minimize the dry, scratchy sensation and prescription eye drops that can actually increase tear production.

"Through a procedure called lacrimal occlusion, we can also temporarily or permanently close the tear ducts to prevent tears from draining away too quickly," Snyder said.

Dr. Snyder owns Oakbrook Optometry at 2125 E .Thousand Oaks Blvd., Ste. A, in Thousand Oaks. For more information, call him at (805) 496-8858.