Every Eye Eco product can be used in conjunction with other dry eye therapies, and works to improve the effectiveness of your body’s natural tears.
Natural Tears Are a Beautiful Thing
Dry eye is a result of a reduction in the quality or quantity of natural tears. Insufficient tear production can lead to irritation, pain, and scarring of the cornea (the front covering of your eye).
Tears are essential to the health of our eyes. Tears moisturize, lubricate, nourish and clean the eye. The moisture prevents the cornea from drying, while the lubrication makes blinking smooth and comfortable. Tears also provide nourishment to the eye by supplying oxygen and removing carbon dioxide. Tears wash away foreign particles and help protect the eye from infection. Without adequate tears, the cornea can become damaged, which can lead to pain, blurred vision and even blindness.
Tears are comprised of three components, oil, mucus (also called mucin) and watery tears. The innermost layer of tears is the mucus layer which coats the surface of the cornea and allows the tear film to adhere to the eye. The middle layer is the watery tears which provide moisture and supply oxygen and other nutrients to the cornea. The outer layer is composed of oil that seals the tear film and slows the evaporation of tears from the surface of the eye.
Tears are formed in several glands around the eye. The watery tears are produced in the lacrimal gland, while several smaller glands produce the oil and mucus layers. With each blink, the eyelids sweep tears across the eye. Excess tears flow into drainage ducts.
The Eye Eco Difference
Unlike other treatments, Eye Eco eye hydrating therapy products are non-invasive, preserve natural tears and promote eye health.
How? Moist Heat.
The oily lipid layer on the outside of the tear film acts to preserve natural tears and spread them evenly across the eye, keeping them well-moistened.
These oils are secreted from little meibomian glands which are tucked under the eye lashes. There are up to 70 in total. These glands can become clogged, preventing oils from secreting. In the absence of these oils, our natural tears evaporate at an accelerated rate leaving our eyes dry, red and irritated. In addition, as we age, our bodies produce less oils and therefore the oily lipid layer starts to thin. Thinning of the lipid layer makes it harder on the eyes to hold tears and protect from evaporation.
The evaporation rate of natural tears in a dry eye can be four times as high as a normal eye.1
Evaporation rate of natural tears decreases when relative humidity increases.2
Significant changes occur in tear film lipid layer thickness following alterations in humidity of the periocular environment. Increased humidity results in a thickening of the lipid layer and a concurrent relief of dry eye symptoms both during period of exposures and hours after.3
If evaporation can be controlled and returned to normal levels in patients with low tear flow, the eye might be able to maintain healthier tear osmolarity despite the low flow.
Eye Eco eye hydrating products provide immediate and long lasting relief from dry, irritated eyes. They restore moisture by increasing humidity around the eyes which prevents the evaporation of natural tears. The increased humidity also improves eye health by the thickening the lipid layer and restoring the eye’s defense against evaporation.
1Ocular Evaporation in Meibomian Gland Dysfunction and Dry Eye” William Mathers, MD – Ophthalmology Volume 100, Number 3, March 1995
2“Effect of Periocular Humidity on the Tear Film Lipid Layer” Donald R. Korb, O.D., Jack V. Greiner, MD, Ph.D, Thomas Glonk, Ph.D, Roya Esbah, O.D., Victor M. Finnemore, O.D., and Amy C. Whalen, B.A. , Cornea Vol. 15. No. 2 1996
3“Tear Flow and Evaporation in Patients with and without Dry Eye” William D. Mathers, MD, Thomas E. Daley, MS, Ophthalmology Volume 103, Number 4, April 1996
