Ever wondered why your eyes often feel dry, itchy, or irritated? This episode with eye care expert Dr. Thuy Nguyen is an enlightening chat that promises to answer your questions on a common issue - dry eyes. You'll learn the complexities of this condition, understanding the role of tear film and the inflammation cycle leading to these symptoms. In addition, Dr. Nguyen cautions against the use of certain over-the-counter products like Visine and suggests safer alternatives like Refresh or Sustain.
Moving beyond the symptoms and causes, we explore effective treatments for dry eyes, diving into a variety of both over-the-counter and prescription options. Dr. Nguyen enlightens us about different prescription medications and their unique benefits in treating various stages of dry eyes. But it's not all medical - she also shares some simple lifestyle changes that can significantly improve the condition. From taking regular screen breaks to adjusting your sleeping habits, these nuggets of wisdom are sure to help you manage your eye health better. So, join us in this episode packed with practical tips and expert advice on tackling dry eyes.
Ever wondered why your eyes often feel dry, itchy, or irritated? This episode with eye care expert Dr. Thuy Nguyen is an enlightening chat that promises to answer your questions on a common issue - dry eyes. You'll learn the complexities of this condition, understanding the role of tear film and the inflammation cycle leading to these symptoms. In addition, Dr. Nguyen cautions against the use of certain over-the-counter products like Visine and suggests safer alternatives like Refresh or Sustain.
Moving beyond the symptoms and causes, we explore effective treatments for dry eyes, diving into a variety of both over-the-counter and prescription options. Dr. Nguyen enlightens us about different prescription medications and their unique benefits in treating various stages of dry eyes. But it's not all medical - she also shares some simple lifestyle changes that can significantly improve the condition. From taking regular screen breaks to adjusting your sleeping habits, these nuggets of wisdom are sure to help you manage your eye health better. So, join us in this episode packed with practical tips and expert advice on tackling dry eyes.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the Jazzy Eyes podcast. Taking care of your vision with expert precision. Here's your host, dr Tui Nguyen.
Jeremy:
Hello, hello and welcome everyone to the Jazzy Eyes podcast. I'm your host, I'm your co-host, I'm sorry, I'm co-host Jeremy Wolfe and I'm joined by your host, dr Tui Nguyen. Yeah, dr Nguyen, always a pleasure.
Dr. Nguyen:
Yeah.
Jeremy:
I'm so used to doing my own podcast. I'm just like hey, I'm your host right why? Not, why not, why not, why not? I even have my background up here for the Good Neighbor podcast, but that's okay.
Jeremy:
So we hope you've been well since the last time we spoke and thanks to our listeners for tuning in. I just finished a segment with Dr Falco where she talked a little bit about blepharitis and I know you were going to talk a little bit about dry eyes on a broader side, so please share with us your thoughts on that subject.
Dr. Nguyen:
Yeah, so dry eyes. Everyone has dry eyes, Everyone in their mothers has dry eyes. So what is dry eyes? Dry eyes is basically like an inflammation cycle. So what happens at first is the layer of fluid covering our eyes. When you have dry eyes it becomes unstable and it's not. It doesn't wet the whole surface of the eyes as it should. There are spots of dryness and so over time those dryness can actually end up damaging the cells on our cornea, that front part of our eyes, and when those cells get damaged and they die, then that starts the whole inflammation process. When that inflammation process happens, then that leads back to the unstable tear film and it goes as a cycle, as you have unstable tear film, then you have cell death and then you have inflammation. So it's a cycle.
Jeremy:
You said unstable tear film.
Dr. Nguyen:
Tear film Tear film Okay. Yes, so the tears, our tears, are made out of liquid oils and actually a little bit of mucus, and all of those work together to form our tear film.
Jeremy:
Interesting.
Dr. Nguyen:
Yes, and so that's why some people with unstable tear film or dry eyes experience any burning, redness, itching or any gritty or sandy feeling of the eyes. Only enough people who complain that, oh, their eyes are always tearing is also a sign of dry eyes. Just because we're producing those tears that are. Our eyes are so dry that our glands are producing more and more tears to compensate for that dryness, and so people get teary eyes.
Jeremy:
So if you're suffering from just the general dry eyes, I'd imagine there are over the counter eye drops you could use for that, but then also you wouldn't want to use them too much. You probably want to go get that checked out. What would you recommend for someone that is looking for, you know, maybe to have some dry eyes and they just want to get something to kind of help the issue? What would you recommend they get you know over the counter anyway.
Dr. Nguyen:
So when you go into the over the counter you're like bombarded with all these eye drops and you don't know which one to get. I usually tell people to get either a refresh or sustain. Those are what I've used, that I like them, so I recommend it to my patients. I tell my patients not to use vizine because a lot of people who use vizine they tend to have irritation and even more redness from before they started vizine. And so I tell them just to be safe over the counter, like refresh or sustain.
Jeremy:
See, it's interesting. Why is it that vizine, or what's the primary difference between something like vizine and refresh and these other brands that are less, I guess, less damaging to the eyes?
Dr. Nguyen:
So vizine? Sometimes they have a little preservative that people are not, that they find irritating on their eyes, and the main mechanism of vizine to make your eyes look brighter and wider, they constrict the blood vessels or the arteries on your eyes. But when our arteries bring oxygen and blood to the eye, so when you constrict it, you're cutting off the oxygen supplies to go to the eyes. So when vizine wears off, your arteries actually double in size and so they look even redder than before you started using vizine.
Jeremy:
See, that's interesting, because vizine obviously has done such a phenomenal job branding their company as when people think of eye drops, they think immediately of vizine, right? It's synonymous with that, right? So I tell them not to use vizine.
Dr. Nguyen:
I tell my patients to throw the vizine right away, right in my office. And then I tell them that there are prescription medications that can help the dry eyes. And these prescription medications they work at different levels of the dry eyes. To treat the dry eyes, for example, there is a prescription medication called Zidra, and what that does is it prevents inflammation by blocking inflammatory markers called cytokines, and so that kind of stops the dry eye cycle from the beginning. There are other drops they're called sequel and restasis which not only prevents the or minimizes the inflammation, it also produces it makes our tear gland produce more tears. And then there's a new medication that recently came out called mybo, and the nature of the drop itself not only it gives you an even wedding, the drops evenly wet the surface of your eyes, it also prevents the tears from evaporating as quick. So there are other, not over the counter medications but prescription medications for those with more moderate or severe dry eyes. Were over the counters won't do them justice.
Jeremy:
Putting medication aside for a moment. Yeah, are there any tips or recommendations you could make For just natural things that you could? We're also tuned in on our screens all day, every day and our eyes are Constantly stressed. Are there any suggestions that you can make for just again going out like what I'm thinking is taking a break Every once in a while? Just go outside, be in nature, just take your eyes off the screens. Any thoughts on that?
Dr. Nguyen:
Yeah, so when people are on their computer, they blink less. So if you're on a screen, I recommend having an artificial tear draw tears right next to you Just to use when your eyes are feeling a little dry and to take more frequent breaks. Also, when you're sleeping some people sleep with a fan on, and so people, when they sleep, most people don't close their eyes fully all the way, and so when the fan is on, it's drying out the bottom of your your your eyes as well. As when you're in the car, some people have their acs blasting right into their face, and that also makes dry eyes a little bit worse. So it's a little, it's little stuff like this that you can change in your daily routines to help manage your dry eye symptoms.
Jeremy:
Very cool and, of course, as always, is something I just learned. Just learn it, but Make sure you get your eyes checked routinely, obviously like any other anything else in life, preventative, being diligent on prevent, on the preventative side, is usually what will ultimately help you long Tour, long term.
Dr. Nguyen:
Yeah and you can come in to get your eyes exam Examined. There are some office procedures that we can do to help Manage the dry eyes, like Punto plugs, where we put little collagen plugs in the and the tear ducts to prevent the drip, the tears, from draining as quickly so our eyes are more moisturized throughout the day. Or maybe even like heat therapy, where some people put Heat pads onto their eyes to help the, the, the oil glands, liquify and so there's more oils on the eyes to prevent the tears from evaporating as quickly.
Jeremy:
All right, very good, dr Neuwen, always a pleasure. Thank you for sharing those little little nuggets of insight and wisdom and I'll, you know, look forward to getting into another segment soon. And thanks to our listeners for tuning in and we will see you on the next episode. Everyone, take care.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for listening to the jazzy eyes podcast. For more information, visit jazzy eyes calm or contact 954 473 0100.