Causes and approaches to the treatment of lacrimation in the elderly

At approach of advanced age the person gets set of the problems, concerning various systems of its organism.The human eyes are exposed to a large negative impact with age. In addition to the usual attenuation of vision, deviations of a different nature may occur.For example, a widespread problem is lacrimation. Its occurrence is not a cause for concern, because it is really eliminated.

About the disease

Lachrymation is the excessive secretion of fluid by the lacrimal glands, or insufficient drainage.It manifests itself as a consequence of abnormalities and diseases, although with short-term course it can be a sign of normal overwork.

Causes

The reasons for the fact that in the elderly / old age there is a similar problem, there can be a lot, they differ quite strongly.We list the most common:

• Change the position of eyelashes.Because of the changes that occur with age, in particular, due to the slight westernization of the eyeball and flabbiness of the skin, the lower eyelid is slightly wrapped. Eyelashes at the same time begin to constantly irritate the cornea and conjunctiva, because the eye constantly reflexively produces tears. Sometimes the eyelash position can change due to micro-trauma, barley and other similar problems.
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• Change in the position of the ophthalmic papilla.Another pathology, which usually unfolds due to the dystrophy of the skin, as well as the mucosa from the inside of the eye. The lacrimal papilla lengthens and / or thickens, and therefore does not participate in the sucking of tear fluid, which leads to the fact that it begins to stand out more actively without getting rid of it.
• Change the position of the lacrimal point.When the tonus of the muscle lifting the upper eyelid decreases with age, it falls, leading to senile blepharoptosis. Also, the tone of the circular muscle weakens slightly, the eyelid turns out somewhat, because its lower tear point changes its position. This causes intermittent lacrimation. But gradually a person, wiping again and again tears, further traumatizes the skin of the eyelid, pulls it downwards, strengthens lacrimation, because it becomes permanent.
• Functional weakness / atony of the lacrimal canal muscles.This is a fairly common reason why sertification is disturbed even in those elderly people who are all well with tearing ways. Their passive conductivity can be good, but with an active problem.
• Diseases of ENT organs.In elderly people this problem arises quite often. These may be curvatures of nasal concha, nasal septum, atrophic and hypertrophic rhinitis and much more. Often the connection between these problems and lacrimation can be unobvious, because they usually go directly to the oculist, ignoring the problems of the nose, but in fact, it is worth eliminating them - and this can lead to normalization of the situation with lacrimation.
• Incorrect use of eye drops.Sometimes an elderly person uses an unjustifiably large number of different eye drops, which sometimes can even be prescribed for treatment just lacrimation. But only an excess of this leads to the fact that there is an allergization of the mucosa in this area, and this only provokes lacrimation, and if it was present before, it aggravates and only hinders his treatment, instead of, on the contrary, helping and facilitating getting rid of Problems.

• Pathology of the lining of the eyelids and / or the eyeball.Provoke the problem usually conjunctivitis, which in elderly people are especially poorly treated, and therefore increasingly occur chronically, due to the weakening of the protective functions of the body. Sometimes the fault is incorrect therapy. Therefore, in the cavities small clumps of mucus accumulate, gradually falling into the tear ducts. This can cause them to block, which is the result of increased lacrimation. Another option is dystrophic changes in the conjunctiva of the eyeball, which occurs as a thickening of the mucous yellowish color. As a result, all this is hypertrophied, the newly formed vessels begin to cause a cutting sensation in the eye, as well as increased lacrimation.
• Wrong correction of presbyopia.This is often a frequent reason that the problem manifests itself in the elderly. In such cases, in addition to tearing, they feel as if they have sand in their eyes, or something similar. It is often possible to confuse a similar problem with conjunctivitis, which sometimes leads to incorrect treatment, which only aggravates the whole process, instead of alleviating the situation.
• The presence of a foreign body.This problem is peculiar not only to older people, it can be present in any person. Being in the eye, the foreign body actively irritates it, leading to increased tearing.

Symptoms

Lachrymation is inherently a symptom, therefore it is necessary to pay close attention to other sensations that accompany the problem. This can make it easier to identify what exactly provoked it.For example, pain in the nose will allow to determine the problems of ENT-character. Painful sensations directly in the eye can help to detect the presence of a foreign body.Itching may also be present, which also indicates irritation, for example, when the eyelash is shifted. The sensation of sand in the eyes indicates problems with correcting presbyopia and so on.

The more precise the symptoms will be described to the doctor, the easier it will be to identify the cause of the problem.

Diagnostics

First the doctor carefully interrogates the patient, paying attention to all possible symptoms.After the survey, the eye area is examined, including the slit lamp, the tone of the eyelid skin, the growth of the eyelashes and so on are carefully studied.With the help of a color sample, the patency of the tear ducts can be checked. You can check their passive patency by ordinary washing. If the cause is not identified, then an x-ray can be prescribed.

If the cause is not identified and after that, then usual fatigue can be diagnosed.

Treatment

Treatment is appointed by the doctor depending on the specific problem - there is no general universal approach to solving the problem. Sometimes drops are prescribed, sometimes ointments, sometimes surgical intervention, for example, to correct the position of the eyelid and other procedures.

Surgical intervention, as a rule, in the elderly is more often conservative.

Complications

Both lacrimation itself and its incorrect therapy can lead to numerous consequences associated with the eyes.A common example is the thinning of the eye film, which can lead to loss of vision.

Prevention

To avoid such a problem, it is necessary to avoid mechanical damage to the eyes and eyelids, do not subject them to a sharp temperature drop, eat right, taking food with lots of vitamins B2 and A, and also not using cosmetics that can cause negative reaction.You also need to give your eyes more time to rest.

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PTEP of the upper eyelid.

How to choose the correct glasses for vision read here.

Strabismus in children up to one year of cause: http://eyesdocs.ru/zabolevaniya/kosoglazie/kosoglazie-u-detej-goda-prichiny-diagnostika-lechenie.html

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conclusions

Lachrymation in the elderly is becoming a very common problem that many factors can provoke.Do not ignore it, with a noticeable manifestation it is necessary to turn to the oculist.