Key takeaways
- Menopause causes a significant decrease in hormone production, which can affect your eyes’ surface tissues and oil glands, leading to dry eye disease.
- Treatment options for menopause-related dry eye range from at-home remedies and over-the-counter products, such as warm compresses and lubricating eye drops, to prescription medications and in-office procedures.
- A healthcare professional can help you find the underlying cause of dry eye during menopause and develop a treatment plan tailored to your needs.
Menopause is the natural transition during which your menstrual period stops and you can no longer become pregnant.
During this phase of life, your body’s hormone production greatly decreases, leading to a range of physical effects such as hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, and mood shifts. Dry eyes are another possible effect of this hormonal change.
Dry eye disease can cause debilitating symptoms that may affect your quality of life, so it’s important to find ways to manage the condition.
In this article, we discuss at-home and over-the-counter (OTC) treatments, prescription medications, hormone-related therapies, and in-office procedures that can help treat hormone-related dry eye.
Hormones are chemical messengers that are produced in your endocrine system and then move through your bloodstream and tissues.
Hormones play an important role in regulating many functions in your body, such as sleep, mood, hunger, and reproduction. Therefore, changes in your hormone levels can affect systems throughout your body.
During menopause, you’ll experience hormonal changes, including a decrease in your levels of sex hormones such as estrogen and androgens.
These sex hormones are present in the tissues that make up the surface of your eye, such as the cornea, conjunctiva, and oil glands. Thus, a drop in hormone levels can affect the function of the oil glands and other structures, leading to dryness.
At-home remedies and OTC treatments are often the first course of action for managing dry eye related to menopause.
Options include:
- warm compresses
- eyelid cleaning
- lubricating eye drops
Applying warm compresses to your eyes may offer relief by stimulating the release of oil from the glands in your eyelids. You can also try keeping your eyelids clean by washing them routinely with soap and warm water.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) recommends lubricating eye drops (also called artificial tears) as a helpful remedy for dryness resulting from hormonal changes. These eye drops are available over the counter in most pharmacies.
While you should follow the instructions on the label, it’s generally fine to use eye drops as often as you need to. But the AAO notes that if you’re using them more often than every 2 hours, you may want to try a preservative-free option.
Lubricating gels are another OTC option. They may be more suitable for use around bedtime because they have a thicker consistency and can blur your vision slightly.
If you’re experiencing persistent dry eye that doesn’t respond to home remedies or OTC treatments, doctors may recommend prescription eye drops. These may contain anti-inflammatory medications (such as steroids) or immunomodulatory medications (such as cyclosporine).
Doctors may also recommend hormone therapy. The goal of this treatment is to relieve symptoms related to the drop in estrogen and progesterone levels.
However, according to a 2017 research review, hormone therapy may not benefit everyone who experiences dry eye disease related to menopause. In some cases, stopping hormone therapy or switching to a type that does not contain estrogen could help reduce symptoms.
In recent years, advances in technology have led to the development of devices that use a combination of heat, pressure, and light to stimulate the meibomian glands to help manage severe cases of dry eye disease.
These in-office procedures may be treatment options for hormone-related dry eye that has not responded to other treatments. Examples include:
- LipiFlow: This treatment involves placing applicators on each side of your eyelids and delivering heat and pressure through them to stimulate your meibomian glands and clear up clogs.
- TearCare: Like LipiFlow, this treatment involves using applicators to heat your eyelids, but the applicators are flexible and allow you to keep your eyes open and blink during the procedure.
- Intense pulsed light (IPL) therapy: This treatment involves applying infrared light to your eyelids to loosen clogs in your meibomian glands and relieve inflammation.
Amniotic membrane grafts are another
If you’re experiencing dry eye that may be related to menopause, talk with a healthcare professional. They can help you find out whether your condition is related to hormonal changes or another cause and can develop a treatment based on their findings.
An eye doctor may recommend that you start with conservative treatments, such as home remedies and OTC products. If those treatments are not effective or your symptoms worsen, they may explore other options such as prescription eye drops or hormone therapy.
During menopause, your body begins to produce lower levels of sex hormones, and these hormonal changes can affect the function of many systems in your body, including your eyes.
Lower estrogen and androgen levels can affect the oil-producing glands in your eyes, leading to dry eye disease.
Depending on how severe your condition is, a doctor may recommend at-home remedies, OTC drugs, prescription drugs, or more involved procedures.
It’s best to talk with a healthcare professional about your symptoms before trying any treatment for dry eyes.