woman with dry eye in front of a computer

Dry Eye Treatment in Crystal Lake

Offering Lasting Relief For Dry, Itchy & Gritty Eyes

Tired of your eyes constantly watering?

Want to find a solution for your red, dry, itchy eyes?

Dry eye disease can seriously harm your quality of life. It can cause severe irritation and even infection in severe cases.

Symptoms of dry eye disease include:

Red, dry eyes
Itchiness in and around the eye
A gritty-feeling in the eye
Light sensitivity
Excessive watering of the eyes

Visit Coventry EyeCare Associates for effective and lasting dry eye relief.

How Dry Eye Disease Develops & How to Treat It

man with dry eye sneeze

Dry eye disease is an increasingly common eye condition that can happen either because the eye is not producing enough tears, or because tears are evaporating too quickly, leaving the eyes without enough moisture to function comfortably.

This can happen for several reasons including allergies, side effects from medications, hormonal changes, and illness.

Depending on the cause and exact symptoms of your dry eyes, our Crystal Lake eye doctors will be able to prescribe treatments and medications aimed at increasing the amount of tears your eye produces and/or slowing the evaporation of tears to better hydrate your eyes.

What Are the Main Causes of Dry Eye?

Aging

Dry eye disease tends to affect people over the age of 50. This is because tear production slows as we age. As the lacrimal glands produce fewer tears, dry eye develops.
Hormonal changes

It's not uncommon for some women to experience dry eye symptoms during pregnancy, menopause, or while using birth control pills. That's because hormone imbalances can reduce tear production.
Autoimmune disease

Certain autoimmune diseases, like Sjögren’s syndrome, can cause white blood cells to attack your tear glands, thus reducing tear production. Other diseases like arthritis, lupus, and diabetes can also cause poor or insufficient tear production.
Medications

Certain medications can reduce mucus production (one of the 3 tear components) thus contributing to chronic dry eye.

They include antihistamines, antidepressants, diuretics, and beta-blockers.

Note that this is just a handful of causes. There are many other factors that can contribute to dry eye, including pollution and dry air, allergies, poor tear quality, dehydration, contact lens wear, and more.

Dry Eyes FAQs

Can I still wear contact lenses if I have dry eye syndrome?

Yes, some people can still wear contact lenses with dry eye syndrome. However, depending on its severity, you may need to carefully select the adequate contact lens for optimal clarity and comfort.

Oftentimes, because contact lenses sit on the eye, it's difficult for vital oxygen to reach the eye. This can worsen dry eye symptoms, and increase the risk of scratching or otherwise damaging your eye. Make sure to ask your eye doctor which contact lenses are most adapted to your condition.

Can dry eye syndrome be cured?

Unfortunately, there is no known cure for dry eye syndrome. There are, however, many treatment options that offer lasting dry eye relief.

Can dry eye syndrome cause blindness?

In rare extreme cases, dry eye syndrome can cause corneal ulcers. These ulcers can result in scarring on the eye, making it difficult for the cornea to focus light accurately. If left untreated, corneal ulcers and the associated scarring can result in blindness.

How can I prevent dry eye symptoms?

Below are a few tips that will help prevent dry eye symptoms:

Point fans, heaters, and air vents so that they don’t directly blow into your eyes
Eat foods high in omega-3 fatty acids
Stay properly hydrated
Take breaks during long tasks, especially those that require extended visual focus

Patient Reviews

4.7

100 Reviews

- Oct. 29, 2024

REVIEW UPDATE: I wanted to change my review to 5 stars. The office manager, I believe her name was D... Show Moreeb, reached out to me and went above and beyond to apologize. I still feel confident recommending Conventry to anyone I know. Customer service here has always been great and they have turned my experience into something positive. I have come here for a couple years and have always liked it as well as liking their doctors. But this last year after using a new prescription of contacts I noticed a lot of problems with my right eye. Nothing major at first to notice really, but after about 5-6 months I realized how blurry my vision was. I’ve had bad experiences in the past with eye doctors (not here) who would downplay minor concerns I’ve had with the strength of my prescription, or tell me my actual prescription has actually lowered not increased. With that in mind I’ve figured I would just trust my eye doctor at eye conventry and the issues with my right eye was probably just natural degeneration from age. I told myself I would bring it up at my next eye doctor appointment as long as there was no pain. Another thing I’ve also had a big increase of migraines this year, more than I’ve ever had. I actually also hit a curb which popped my tire in the right side of my car from my blurry vision. I just figured all this was random things not connected with one another. At my yearly doctor appointment Saturday, they noticed me struggle with my right eye even with my contacts. After getting put into a room they asked me multiple questions about my right eye. I had mentioned how it had really bothered me but I just figured it was in my head or I would just a night prescription. They focused a lot of questions on my right eye which actually scared me, I started to think there may actually be something seriously wrong. After about 5 minutes l the doctor arrived and continued asking me questions about my right eye which was increasing my anxiety about something being wrong. The doctor seemed nervous right from the beginning and after asking some more questions, he finally admitted that they had made a clerical error on my prescription. He seemed to change the subject rather quickly and I was just relieved that I was okay. After a few minutes I realized how weird a clerical error sounded and rounded back and asked what the actual error was. Apparently the prescription they gave me had my Y axis as 1.0, what it was supposed to actually be is a 10!!!! I started to ask more questions if this is why I’ve had so many migraines this year, and was this why I struggled so much to see things, and he said yes this could have caused all of this. He also admitted that he’s not sure how this happened, he even double checks all prescriptions but somehow they messed up. Again me being relieved that nothing was wrong I let it go. But days later the more think about the more upset I am getting. I struggle financially so to realize I paid over $700 for contacts that were so completely wrong, to pay for something that caused me constant migraines which resulted in me needing to call off work, and for me realize this contributed to me having a hard time seeing and hitting a curb. I wasn’t offered replacement contacts or a discount on the exam or a real apology, I just seemed like such a minor thing to them. I really trusted this eye doctor and I understand mistakes happen, but this really affected me for almost a full year. I still have to use these contacts!!! I need to save replace them with my new prescription which will be again over $700, so until then these are all I have.I wish they could have done more to rectify this and I very disappointed.