Menopause = Dry WHAT???

I read an article that I've enclosed the link to at the bottom of this talk, about dry eyes and menopause. Now, for my real job, I see patients every day whom I educate about eyes and contact lens use.  I have hundreds of women in the menopause time line as patients and I am always telling them to increase their daily water intake, never to rub their eyes, especially when contact lenses are in place, and if need be, use lubricating drops throughout the day and periodically to sooth dryness, especially if long hours are spent looking at a computer screen. Hair dressers, women who do woodworking, or who have jobs that require them to travel and drive long distances also get my lectures about caring for potential dryness. But the statistics gleamed from the following article were, well, eye opening.

According to  the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public health "most of the people suffering from dry, itchy eyes" are menopausal women. The article states that about "61% of peri- and menopausal ladies suffer from dry eye syndrome." D.E.S. includes symptoms of dryness, light sensitivity, some tearing and burning and even changes in the clarity of your vision.  Declining estrogen levels are once again to blame. It is theorized that those falling hormone levels change the makeup of the eye tissue and the tear production, which makes sense when you think about it.

The eyes are basically a mucous membrane, like your mouth and vaginal area. When your mouth is dry or you are addicted to chapstick, you can bet you're dry internally as well, so it makes sense that if you are experiencing external factors relating to dryness, i.e. air conditioning blowing in your face, or heat from the car's dashboard, you will cause a dryness issue. Hydrating in the form of drinking water, turning the jets AWAY from your face, and never rubbing tired, dry eyes, will all help with this problem.

There are a plethora of lubricating eye drops on the market, but I still stick to my wisdom of using only name brands, not off-brand cheaper products.The reason is the amount of preservatives these companies add to their products to give them longer shelf lives, and the majority of those preservatives involve some kind of salt - or saline- product. Saline is never a good moisturizer for the eyes because it's SALT, and what does salt do when it is wet then exposed to the air? It DRIES!! Think about coming out of the ocean and the way your skin feels when it starts to dry off in the sun: tight and dry, and in some cases, sting-y. That's what saline does to your eyes. Yes, the second you instill a drop it feels great. But wait a minute - or even ten seconds- and that refreshed feeling begins to abate. The comfort you get from good lubricating drops should last several hours. AND NEVER USE ANY PRODUCTS THAT CLAIM TO "GET THE RED OUT." EVER! Seriously, you can do long term damage to your tear film makeup and your eyes if you do.

There are other tips mentioned in the article and as promised, this is the link.     http://bit.ly/1cMXfdZ            If you can't click on it from here, just copy and paste it into your browser. It is well worth reading.

Take care of your eyes. You only get the two. Really.