Can Low Estrogen Cause Dry Eyes after Menopause
You will go through many hormonal changes in the initial stages of your menopause transition. Women often ask can low estrogen causes dry eyes? – Yes, it can. After menopause, your body makes fewer reproductive hormones, particularly estrogen and progesterone. Low estrogen levels can influence your health in various ways and cause distressing symptoms, like hot flashes. One of the lesser-known signs of menopause is dry eyes, and problems with your tears cause dry eyes.
Every living being has a tear film that covers and lubricates the eyes, and the tear film is water, oil, and mucus mixture.
Dry eyes transpire when you do not produce enough tears or when your tears are futile. It can cause a scratchy feeling, like something in your eye, and it can also lead to blurry vision, irritation, stinging, and burning.
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Menopause causing Dry Eyes
With age, tear production drops. When you cross 50, it increases your risk of dry eyes, regardless of your gender. However, postmenopausal women are more prone to dry eyes. Sex hormones, such as androgens and estrogen, can somehow affect tear production, but the definite relationship is unknown.
Previously, researchers believed that low estrogen levels were producing dry eyes in postmenopausal women, but new investigations focus on androgens’ role. Androgens are sex hormones in men and women. However, women have lower levels of androgens, to begin with, and those levels decline after menopause. Androgens may play a vital role in maintaining the fine balance of tear production.
Risk Factors
The shift to menopause occurs steadily over many years. In the years leading up to menopause, known as perimenopause, many women start to experience hormonal changes, such as hot flashes and irregular periods. Women over the age of 45 are at a higher risk of developing dry eye problems.
Doctors call dry eyes a multifactorial disease, meaning that several different things may be adding to the problem. Generally, dry eye problems are caused by one or more of the following:
- Decreased Tear Production
- Drying up of Tear
- Ineffective Tears
You can reduce your risk of dry eyes by avoiding environmental triggers. Factors that can lead to tearing evaporation include:
- Dry winter air
- Excessive wind
- Outdoor activities like skiing, running, and boating
- Air-conditioning
- Contact lenses
- Allergies
Treatment
Multiple women with menopausal dry eyes wonder can low estrogen causes dry eyes and if hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can help deal with them. There is no solid proof that it will work. Some studies have shown that dry eyes may adjust with HRT, but others have shown that HRT can make dry eye symptoms worse. The issue is still debatable.
However, the largest cross-sectional study discovered that long-term HRT enhances the risk and severity of dry eye symptoms. There are other treatments for dry eyes that women should opt more, and these alternative treatments include the following:
1- OTC Medications
Several OTC medications can treat chronic dry eye problems. Artificial tears will be enough to ease your symptoms most of the time. When choosing the OTC eye drops on the market, keep the following things in mind:
- Drops with chemicals can irritate your eyes when used too much.
- Drops without chemicals are safe to use more than four times a day. They also come in single-serving droppers.
- Lubricating ointments and gels provide a longer, thick coating, but they can cloud your vision.
- Redness-reducing drops can be irritating if used too often.
2- Prescription Medications
Your physician may prescribe different types of medication depending on your condition:
Drugs for Reducing Eyelid Inflammation
Inflammation around the edge of your eyelids can hold necessary oils from mixing with your tears. Your physician may prescribe oral antibiotics to counter this condition.
Drugs for Reducing Cornea Inflammation
Inflammation on the exterior of your eyes can be managed with prescription eye drops. Your physician may advise drops that contain the necessary medicine to control the inflammation.
Eye Inserts
When artificial tears do not work, physicians prescribe a tiny insert between your eyelid and eyeball that gradually releases a lubricating substance throughout the day and keeps your eyes hydrated.
Drugs Stimulating Tears
Drugs called cholinergic help to enhance tear production, and they are available as a pill, gel, or eye drop.
Plasma Drugs
If you have a severe dry eye condition that does not respond to other treatments, eye drops can be made from your blood to counter it.
Special Contact Lenses
Special contact lenses can benefit by confining moisture and protecting your eyes from irritation.
These are the common reasons and treatments for dry eyes. If you want more information, you can book an appointment with the best eye specialist in Lahore through Marham.
