What is Dry Eye?

Very simply, dry eye is an uncomfortable condition where your eyes stop making sufficient quantities of healthy tears, leading to a lack of moisture and lubrication. Millions of Americans are affected by dry eye. Fortunately, dry eye symptoms are treatable.

In the healthy eye, a thin layer of tears—it's called the tear film—coats the surface of the eye. When the eye is open, the tear film keeps the surface of the eye moist, lubricated and comfortable. With each blink, the tear film on the surface of the eye is swept away by the movement of the lids, much like a windshield wiper, and is replenished with fresh tears.

Whether it be loss or reduction of the eye's ability to produce normal tears, dry eye is one of the most frequent causes of visits to an eye care professional. A variety of factors may cause or contribute to this problem, such as working too many hours at the computer each day or an age-specific reason such as menopause.

Symptoms:

  • Eye Irritation
  • Eye stinging or burning
  • Feeling of sand in the eye
  • Blurry vision
  • Watery eyes
  • Difficulty wearing contact lenses

Evaporative dry eye is the most prevalent type of dry eye.

  • A compromised lipid layer of the tear film, which results in tear evaporation, is the deficiency most commonly associated with dry eye symptoms1-4
  • This may be a significant issue for patients experiencing severe dry eye symptoms
  • Soothe XP lubricant/emollient eye drops with Restoryl mineral oils have been shown to help restore the lipid layer of tears in patients with evaporative dry eye

Lipids help seal in moisture at the aqueous layer, which helps prevent tears from evaporating. Unlike most lubricant drops* that do not target the lipid layer, Soothe XP is lipid-layer therapy that:

  • Moisturizes through tear replacement to
    • Protect against tear loss and further irritation with a unique combination of neutral oils to rebuild and thicken a damaged lipid layer
    • Restore the lipid layer of tears.

*Non-lipid containing eye drops

Bausch + Lomb Eye Care Expert Fact:

In the normal tear film, there are three components or layers – water, mucous and lipid. Dry eye symptoms occur when there is a deficiency in either the outermost (lipid), middle (aqueous) and/or the innermost (mucous) layers. Most commonly, people experience deficiency in the compromised lipid layer of the tear film, leading to increased tear loss by evaporation that can cause dry eye.