Dry Eye Therapy in Cowichan Valley

What Causes Dry Eye Disease?

Dry eyes are caused by tear film dysfunction. Simply put, your tears aren’t able to keep your eyes lubricated and comfortable. Dry eyes have two root causes: insufficient tear volume or poor-quality tears.

Our tears are made of three main ingredients:

• The lipid layer – which is composed of an oily substance secreted from the meibum glands. This helps prevent your tears from evaporating too quickly
• The aqueous layer – which is the water-like component of your tears, and includes the most different elements. This is the main ingredient in your tears and helps support the other two layers.
• The mucous layer – which is made of mucins and coats the cornea, helping your tears distribute themselves evenly across the surface of your eye.

If you can’t produce enough tears, or your tear ingredient ratio is off, it can leave your eyes feeling dry and irritated.