Complaints, symptoms and causes of eye disorders

The eye is a sensitive organ. The eye must therefore be cared for with care and as hygienically as possible. There are many types of eye disorders.

Complaints, symptoms and causes of eye disorders

There are various eye complaints.

Lazy eye: one of the two eyes no longer participates in the imaging. The name 'lazy eye' is actually not correct, the eye has muscles that do not function properly. Up to the age of about 10 years the eye can be activated again by masking the other eye for a few weeks. With a lazy eye in old age, practicing the eye muscles or masking does not help.

Inflammation of the conjunctiva: if the eye is red, there is usually an inflammation of the conjunctiva. This can be caused by inflammation, dirt or hypersensitivity.

Itchy and watery eye: this occurs with an allergic reaction of the eye to allergens, for example with hay fever. Dirt in the eye or contact with corrosive substances, sun, wind, smoke and wearing contact lenses can also cause eye irritation.

Shit: a small inflammation in your eyelid. A "shit" is caused by bacteria.

Welding eyes arise when you have insufficiently protected your eyes against bright light. Your eyes will then be sore, feel burning and you cannot tolerate much light.

Tired eyes are caused by strenuous reading or looking. You can relax the eye muscles by looking at distant objects.

Dry eyes are the result of a reduced tear production. This can be due to inflammation, eye cataracts or a less favorable environment such as an air-conditioned room, central heating or cigarette smoke.

Burning eyes are caused by a cold, stress, smog or fatigue.

When to your doctor?

If you have a sharp particle in the eyes (for example, a metal or glass splinter) it is advisable to consult a doctor. Do the same if the eyes have been in contact with a corrosive substance. In other cases, consult your doctor if the eye complaints do not diminish after a few days. Do not wait to long. For eye complaints, it is better that you go to the doctor once for nothing, then wait and run the risk that it is too late.

Tips: what can you do yourself with eye complaints?

Slight eye irritations often go away again. What else can you do:

Do not expose the eye too much to (sun) light, for example wear sunglasses that protect against UV radiation.

In case of hypersensitivity to certain substances, avoid contact with this.

Remove a dirt, fly or dust by carefully lifting the eyelids with your thumb and forefinger. Then remove it with the tip of a sterile gauze or clean handkerchief.

With tearing, burning or itchy eyes, do not rub your eyes, this can make the symptoms worse.

Do not try to remove sharp particles from your eye yourself, you can damage your eye.

In the event of contact of the eye with a corrosive liquid, flush it with plenty of softly flowing water as soon as possible.

With babies you can only clean your eyes with water. Use fresh, lukewarm tap water for this, first let the tap flush thoroughly. It is best to use a sterile gauze with this (no eye bath).

Medicines

The eye is a very sensitive organ. It can get infected quickly and such infection can lead to permanent damage. Therefore eye problems cannot be treated with sufficient care. For this reason, eye drops and eye ointments are always sterilized and only available on prescription.

Use eye drops

The use of eye drops requires some skill. You can practice in advance by dripping on a tissue. Or use an accessory that can be placed on the bottle. You also proceed as follows:

Wash your hands with soap and water before use.

Take out your contact lenses.

Is the fluid cloudy? Shake the bottle before use.

Bend your head as far back as possible and look up or lie flat on your back.

Pull the lower eyelid down with your thumb and forefinger so that a kind of gutter is created.

Hold the bottle in the other hand, but do not touch the tip of the bottle (eye not with your eye).

Just drop one drop in the gutter.

Press the tear tips of the eye closed for 1 minute so that the waist stays in the eye. To do this, press gently with one finger in the corner of the eye, against the nose.

Do you have to use several drops at a time? Then wait at least five minutes for the next drop.

Close the bottle immediately after use.

Eye ointment

Use eye ointment in the same way as eye drops. Apply a string of ointment of about half a centimeter in the gutter, while not touching the eye with the tip of the tube. Keep the eye closed and turn the eyeball up and to the side. If the ointment has spread well, you will see blurry for a while, but that will soon pass.

For inflammation of the eyelid edges, apply the ointment on the eyelid edge, between the eyelashes. Rub the ointment well into the skin between the eyelashes with a cotton swab. Hereby you also loosen the crusts between the eyelashes and you can remove them.

Contact lenses and use of eye drops and ointment
Do not wear contact lenses if your eye is inflamed and be careful even with infections. Check carefully that your lenses are not damaged. It is better not to wear contact lenses as long as you use eye drops or eye ointment. This usually contains a preservative that sometimes reacts with contact lenses and can make them irreversibly cloudy. Soft lenses in particular are very sensitive to this. You can put them back in after 30 minutes. Hard lenses can be put back in again if necessary. Contact lenses can also prevent the drug from entering the eye drop or ointment properly.

Tools for eye complaints

There are various aids that you can use if you suffer from eye complaints:

Eye bath: this allows you to rinse out dirt or give tired and irritated eyes a rinse, allowing them to relax. Clean the bath well with boiled water before and after use.

Eye patches are specially designed for small ophthalmic applications, such as a lazy eye. There are eye patches for both children and adults. You can apply the patch yourself to the closed eye and you can wear it for a long time without irritation. Do not stick this on the eyebrows.

Eye pads are suitable for the care of eye damage or for soft covering of the eye after surgery, or after the insertion of eye drops and ointments.

Eye valve: a spherical cover on an elastic that serves to obscure the eye or to cover a cosmetic disfigurement. An eye valve does not absorb (wound) moisture.

More information and advice

 All information can be found in the Eye complaints brochure.

Do you want to know more about this subject, your health or the medicines you use? Then feel free to visit Alphega pharmacy. We are happy to be of service.

Also for medicines that you buy without a prescription, we recommend that you check whether they go together with any other medicines that you already use. Always pass on the use of these self-care products to your pharmacy.