[사진 출처 = 게티이미지뱅크]Summer is the ‘dazzling season’. However, summer glare should not be taken lightly. If your eyes are so dry that it is difficult to open them properly, you must examine the underlying causes such as dry eye syndrome, keratitis, and autoimmune diseases. If the treatment time is missed, the symptoms will gradually worsen, and in severe cases, it may lead to blindness.
Kim Gyun-hyung, director of Central Seoul Eye Clinic, said, “The eye is the most densely packed of sensory nerves among the body parts. It is for this reason that when dust enters the eye, it reacts much more sensitively than when it touches the skin.” Reported ocular abnormalities as well as systemic diseases can be identified at an early stage,” he said.
The most common cause of glare is dry eye. When the eyes are dry, they are stiff and painful, and it is difficult to open them, and the sensitivity to light increases, which intensifies glare. In summer, when blood circulation is good and humidity is high, dry eye syndrome seems to be less common, but there are more patients than in autumn and winter. The daily use of electronic devices such as smartphones and computers, and fans and air conditioners that take away moisture from the eyes, promote dry eye syndrome. Dry eye syndrome is particularly severe in people who have had vision correction surgery such as LASIK or LASEK or who wear contact lenses for a long time.
First of all, when LASIK or LASEK is performed, the surface of the cornea is partially shaved. Just like a scar remains at the wound site, corneal cells cannot recover 100% following surgery, making them less sensitive to external stimuli such as light and temperature than before.
Second, using contact lenses for too long can cause dry eye syndrome. If the lens presses or covers the cornea for a long time, the sensory nerves become dull and the tear reflex does not occur properly. The lens itself has a property of attracting moisture from the surroundings, so the vicious cycle of dry eyes is repeated once more and once more. Director Kim said, “If dry eye syndrome is too severe, you can relieve glare symptoms by using artificial tears to replenish moisture. If you fill the ingredients that make up the product with prescription drugs, you can solve the glare more fundamentally.”
If glare worsens following spending time in strong sunlight such as in the mountains or the sea, photokeratitis should be suspected. When the cornea is burned by the attack of ultraviolet rays in the sun, inflammation is induced, and various symptoms such as glare, foreign body sensation, itching, pain, and soreness are complained of. Director Kim said, “The symptoms of photokeratitis often appear at a time lag such as night and dawn, not immediately following exposure to light. It is advisable to protect your eyes with a hat or sunglasses when swimming or swimming in the sea.”
If there is no direct impact to the eye, but glare appears repeatedly, it is necessary to check if there is any hidden disease such as uveitis.
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