Dry eyes

I have ocular rosacea as an added complication to my skin rosacea. One symptom of ocular rosacea is dry eyes. Turns out, rosacea or not, over 20 million Americans suffer from dry eye syndrome. Dry eye syndrome makes you sensitive to light, can cause blurred vision and as you might expect, the feeling of dry and itchy eyes. For some, it feels like there is something caught in their eye. For me, when my symptoms are at their worst, my eyes feel like when you are terribly tired and I just want to keep them closed. Women get dry eye syndrome about 2 to 1 over men. Without treatment, worse case scenario is infection or vision impairment.

For immediate relief, eye drops are recommended. Avoid products that have steriods in them (like the Visine that "Gets the Red Out". Avoid products that have preservatives as well. There are products that have single-serving vials - which helps ensure that your eye drops don't get contaminated.

Eye drops are only a short term solution (the equivalent of a band-aid at best) and resolving the underlying causes for dry eye syndrome is essential. You need healthy amounts of essential omega-3 fatty acids. Taking a high quality cod or fish oil is a perfect way to get your omega-3s. (Recommended brands include: Carlson, Nordic Naturals, Spectrum Essentials - whatever brand you get... one of these or another - make sure they purity tested and have removed PCBs, dioxins, mercury, lead and other contaminants.)

In addition to getting your omega-3s... get plenty of lutein, vitamin C, dark berries, and avoid trans fats.

Lutein - lutein-rich foods include kale, collard greens, spinach, broccoli, brussels sprouts and egg yolks (particularly raw egg yolks).

Dark berries - blueberries, cranberries, bilberries and others.

In addition to making certain I include these foods in my diet - I take a supplement that contains lutein, concentrated blueberry powder, dried bilberry extract and vitamin C.

Of course, these recommendations are good for everyone's eye health and protection - not just those of us with dry eye syndrome.