When it's summer and the days are hot and dry, the eye tends to be less hydrated, and contact lens wearers frequently pay the price by experiencing dry eye symptoms. Yet the eye is an organ that, like the inside of your mouth, needs to be constantly hydrated to function properly; if it isn't, you'll feel like you've got a grain of sand under your eyelid. Mymonture tells you all you need to know about dry eye syndrome, how to prevent it and how to get rid of it.

Symptoms of dry eyes

When you have dry eyes, you experience a stinging sensation in your eyes, burning, and you have to make an effort to keep your eyes open. You're also obliged to blink frequently (to rehydrate your cornea) and you feel a certain visual fatigue, all the more so if you work in front of a computer screen (in fact, when the eye looks at a screen, it loses the blinking reflex and the tear film renews itself much less frequently). These symptoms generally increase as the day progresses.

What can you do to alleviate these symptoms?

The first thing you can do to reduce symptoms is to rest your eyes, alternating between wearing contacts and glasses. Wearing contact lenses all the time tires out your eyes, which is why you eventually start to experience dry eye symptoms.

When it comes to lens type, rigid lenses are more respectful of corneal physiology. In fact, soft lenses act like a sponge, sucking up particles from around the eye and molding themselves to the cornea, unlike rigid lenses, which, thanks to their rigidity, form a tear meniscus between the cornea and the lens, keeping the eye hydrated at all times. If you're thinking of changing lenses, talk to your ophthalmologist, who will be able to advise you on the type of lens best suited to the physiology of your cornea.

There are also soft contact lenses more suited to dry eyes, such as Cooper Vision's Biofinity and Ciba Vision's Air Optix hydraglide for monthly lenses, and Johnson & Johnson's Acuvue Oasys for twice-monthly lenses.

Disposable (daily) lenses can also be a good alternative, as they don't accumulate deposits and are therefore more respectful of corneal physiology.

If eye fatigue persists, you can use physiological serum, a water and mineral salts-based solution that replaces missing tears and soothes your eyes. However, saline does not contain all the elements normally found in tears. You can therefore ask your ophthalmologist to prescribe artificial tears tailored to the needs of your cornea.

If your symptoms persist throughout the day, and you have no saline solution to relieve them, we invite you to read our article on gymnastics and eye relaxation exercises to ease the pain.

Dry eye is a condition that affects many contact lens wearers. However, as we have already seen, there are a number of treatments available. If you suffer from any of the above symptoms on a recurring basis, don't hesitate to consult your ophthalmologist, who will be able to provide you with a suitable remedy.