3 Pillars of a Holistic Dry Eye Relief Plan

My patients ask me that all the time, "How can I get dry eye relief that lasts?" The answer is that you need a holistic treatment plan. 

What is a holistic treatment plan?  Let's start with an example we can relate to.  Let's talk about Barbara wanting to lose weight.  She decided to join a gym and committed herself to go to the gym every day, but since she was being so good about going to the gym, she also decided she didn't need to change what or when she was eating. 

For a whole month, Barbara went to the gym every day.  And, she continued eating as she normally had.  When she stepped onto the scale at the end of the month, she found that she had gained weight.  During this month, she had improved her cardiovascular health, improved her breathing, and her stamina.  She had even put on some muscle.  Instead of losing weight, she gained weight in muscle. 

Why did this happen?  She had done one of the things she knew would help her lose weight, but one part of a plan is not enough.  When she failed to take into account the whole system, she failed to lose any weight. 

Holistic Dry Eye Treatment Plan

There are three pillars to a perfect dry eye treatment plan.  In order to treat dry eyes and get the relief that lasts, you need to consider three parts to the plan.  The first pillar is to treat your eyes.  The second is looking at your body.  And, the final part is looking at the effects your environment has on your eyes.  Let's break this down in a little more detail.

Pillar 1: Eyes

If you've been following me for a while, you already know that I recommend a four-step dry eye treatment plan.  If you want to hear about that plan in greater detail, please check out this blog.  Let's review it briefly here.

Hydrate: This step consists of using an artificial tear to bring moisture to your eyes.

Harmonize: Use a cleansing spray to keep the lids healthy and free of bacteria that tend to become overpopulated on the lids and lashes.

Heat:  Use a warm compress to heat the lids.  The oil glands will release oils to bathe the front of the eyes.

Heal: An Omega-3 Fatty Acid supplement to provide your eyes with the building blocks for healthy tears. 

I recommend you do this 4 step process twice a day to keep your eyes healthy and ready to make soothing tears.

Pillar 2: Your Body

The second pillar of this dry eye treatment plan to make it holistic is to look at you, your body, your health, and your specific details.  Your age, gender, and systemic health all play a big role in the way your eyes feel. 

What is your systemic health like? Do you have an autoimmune disease or diabetes? Are you a smoker? Do you get enough sleep each night?  Do you get the proper balance of foods?  Do you avoid foods that are known to worsen eye dryness?  All of these things can contribute to your dry eyes.

In addition, you could be taking medication for something that's seemingly unrelated to your eyes like allergies, depression, high blood pressure, or even hormone replacement therapy.  Both over the counter and prescription medications can reduce the production of tears from your lacrimal glands.  And, some medications have been shown to cause damage to the oil glands in the eyelids and prevent them from producing the proper amount of oils. 

Systemic diseases, medications, a reduction in sleep, or poor dietary habits may be the cause of your red and irritated eyes.  Looking at the health of your whole body may bring the cause of your dry eye symptoms into the light.

Pillar 3: Environment

Examining both the microenvironment of your eyes and the macroenvironment of the world around you is important to consider in your treatment plan.  The world surrounding your delicate eyes can have a major impact on how they feel.  Just think about how they felt the last time you drove in the car with the air vent blasting in your face.  You may have cooled off, but your eyes were surely irritated afterward.

The ingredients in your makeup products, and the way you wear and care for your contact lenses, can significantly affect your eyes.  Especially, since you're using these products on a daily or routine basis. 

Now, look at the macroenvironment around your eyes.  Working on a digital device for hours on end each day has its own set of consequences for your dry eyes.  Learning how to use them safely is important for getting your eyes to be healthy, check out this blog here for more information about computer use and dry eyes.

The world that surrounds you also affects your eyes.  What's blooming or blowing around outdoors because of the seasons can exacerbate your dry eye symptoms. Each season comes with its own set of unique challenges, and these seasons can affect you indoors as well. 

For example, indoor ceiling fans during the summer and heaters during the winter are apart of our daily life, but they can both dry the eyes. The world around you and how you interact with it makes a huge impact on your eyes. 

Conclusion

You may have the best treatment plan imaginable, but it can be ruined by leaving out one of the sections of this holistic treatment plan.  Just like Barbara who wanted to lose weight, but didn't remember to change her diet.  She did a lot of things right by getting enough rest and exercising daily, but she didn't do anything to change her diet.  Consequently, her weight went up instead of down.

The same is true of your own dry eye treatment plan.  You can do all of the steps in the 4-step process to treat your eyes.  As a result, your eyes will feel much better, but it won't treat the root cause of your dry eyes.  Finding out what is specifically driving your dry eyes is paramount in building a treatment plan that works.