Page 90 - Occupational Health & Safety, September 2019

VISION PROTECTION
Defending Against Dry Eye Syndrome
Dry Eye Syndrome is very common, impacting more than 3 million people per year.
BY BRENT L. MOTCHANThere is nothing worse than dry, itchy eyes. When it comes to taking care of your work- ers, one of the most important things you should be concerned with is their eye health. Perhaps the most common conditions affecting the vision of employees is Dry Eye Syndrome. Let’s take a look into what Dry Eye Syndrome is, how it impacts
employees, prevention and treatment opportunities.
What is Dry Eye Syndrome?
Dry Eye Syndrome is one of the most common eye conditions worldwide and a primary reason for visits to the eye doctor.1 Dry Eye Syndrome is caused by a lack of sufficient lubrication and moisture on the sur- face of the eye. Healthy tears help lubricate, heal and protect the surface of the eye. If a person is unable to produce healthy tears, the eyes become vulnerable to inflammation and progressive disease.
What Are the Symptoms?
Symptoms of Dry Eye Syndrome include a burning sensation, itchy eyes, aching sensations, heavy eyes, fatigued eyes, sore eyes, dryness, red eyes, photopho- bia and blurred vision. A common symptom is “for- eign body sensation,” or the feeling that grit or some other object or material is “in” your eye.
Another common symptom of dry eye is actually watery eyes. This seems odd as the name of the syn- drome is, “dry eye” and the most common symptoms are dryness and itchiness, but dry eyes become watery because they are trying to compensate. The dryness on the eye’s surface sometimes will trigger the produc- tion of the watery component of your tears as a pro- tective mechanism. This “reflex tearing” does not stay on the eye long enough to correct the underlying dry eye condition, however.
In addition to these symptoms, dry eyes can cause inflammation and (sometimes permanent) damage to the surface of the eye.
What Causes Dry Eye Syndrome?
An adequate and consistent layer of tears on the sur- face of the eye is essential to keep your eyes healthy, comfortable and seeing well. Tears bathe on the eye’s surface to keep it moist and wash away dust, debris and microorganisms that could damage the cornea and lead to an eye infection.
Healthy tear film is made up of three components: lipid, aqueous and mucin. The oily component is pro- duced by the Meibomian glands in the eyelids while
the watery component is produced by the lacrimal glands located behind the outer aspect of the upper eyelids. The third component, mucin, is produced by goblet cells in the conjunctiva that covers the white of the eye, or the sclera.
Each component of the tear film serves a critical purpose. For example, tear lipids help keep the tear film from evaporating too quickly and increase lubri- cation while mucin helps to anchor and spread the tears across the surface of the eye.
A problem with any of these sources of tear com- ponents can result in tear instability and dry eyes, and there are different categories of dry eyes, depending on which component is affected. For example, if the Meibomian glands don’t produce or secrete enough oil (meibum), the tear film may evaporate too quick- ly—a condition called “evaporate dry eye.” The under- lying condition, called Meibomian Gland Dysfunc- tion, is now recognized as a significant factor in many cases of Dry Eye Syndrome.2
In other cases, the primary cause of dry eye is a failure of the lacrimal glands to produce enough wa- tery liquid to keep eyes adequately moistened. This condition is called “aqueous deficiency dry eye.” The specific type of dry eye will determine the type of treatment your doctor will recommend to relieve your symptoms.
Testing for Dry Eye
Symptoms alone are poor predictors of the presence and severity of Dry Eye Syndrome. For those who think they might have Dry Eye Syndrome, a doctor can perform one or more tests to confirm dry eye and what category. These tests can also help a doctor de- cide how to move forward with treatment options.
Prevention
Safety glasses have been worn for decades and were first introduced to reduce the incidents of a direct projectile reaching the eye. Over the last several years, requests by employers have increased for added pro- tection for workers to combat dry eye. They were not only concerned about direct impacts to the eyes but also, eliminating eye injuries due to dusty atmosphere and particulates in the workplace.
To answer the needs of these employers, Safe- Vision set out to design and augment its exclusive safety eyewear line with specific frames that helped to eliminate dust and other airborne particulates from contact with workers’ eyes. Specific frames were also
86 Occupational Health & Safety | SEPTEMBER 2019
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