Understanding dry eye
What's really behind your
burning, stinging, achy dry eyes
When you blink, a layer of tears spreads across the surface of your eyes—this is called the tear film. Your tear film is made up of 3 layers that work together to nourish and protect your eyes.
When one or more of the layers is unbalanced, this instability triggers the cycle of dry eye and those annoying, disruptive, dry eye symptoms. No matter what type or severity of dry eye you have, your tear film is unstable.
THE 3 LAYERS of tear film
Produced by glands &
cells around your eyes
1
MUCIN
Helps distribute your tears over your eyes and keeps them anchored to the surface
2
AQUEOUS
A complex fluid made up of nourishing elements that keeps your eyes moist and free of foreign particles
3
LIPID
Keeps the aqueous fluid in your eyes from evaporating so they stay lubricated
The deal with drops
The low down
on drops
Your over-the-counter drops may not be enough to relieve your dry eye symptoms. Here are some other key considerations about drops:
- May contain preservatives that can make your symptoms feel worse
- May need to use them multiple times throughout the day to get relief
- Putting drops in your eyes may smudge your makeup
- May have to remove your contact lenses while applying drops
The power of real tears
There's nothing like
YOUR own real tears
Real tears are powerful—they nourish and hydrate the surface of the eyes, keeping them well lubricated, stable, and healthy. Artificial tears may provide temporary relief, but they aren't made up of the same components that your body naturally produces.
Your real tears are a treasure trove made up of more than 1500 different proteins, growth factors, and enzymes. Each component has an important job to do.
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