Q: I am 20 years old. I weigh 56 kg and I am 163 cm tall. I have a problem with my eyes for two months. I have continuous irritation in my eyes. An ophthalmologist asked me to use Richgel tear drops for a month. But the problem persisted. I went to him again and he prescribed me Centaur eye drops to be taken thrice daily and Ciplox eye ointment at night for 15 days. He also told me to rotate my eyeballs clockwise and anti-clockwise as many times as possible in a day. But there is no improvement. I went to him again and he told me that there is oil gland blockage in the eyes. He asked me to place hot salt crystals in a cloth and massage my eyes three times a day with it and continue the ciplox ointment for another 15 days. I had a clear white conjunctiva, which along these 2 months has become yellowish and red streaks can be seen everywhere. Turning the eyeballs hurts me. The pain and irritation in the eyes has also increased drastically. The pain shoots up with 10 minutes of watching TV, PC monitor or even reading. Please suggest some quick remedies that will help me read for my soon approaching exams. Please advise. I already wear glasses with power of -1.0 and -1.25 with anti-glare. How do I get rid of the irritation and get back white conjunctiva?

A:You need glasses but even now you have not included what is you near and distance vision with these glasses and when and how much do you wear these glasses. Make sure your glasses are up to date. Your ophthalmologist was right first time that you have some dry eyes i.e. you are not producing enough tears to lubricate your eyes. As a result of this your eyes are uncomfortable and as you can not lubricate or wash out the dirt and germs from your eyes, You get frequent conjunctivitis (red eyes) due to secondary infection. Apart from blinking your eyes lids more frequently, you don't need any eye exercises. Wash your eyes with clean water and use richgel tears as many times a day as you feel the discomfort (3-4 times daily) but the symptoms will only be relieved as long as the drop persists in the eyes. In other words you need to use it indefinitely. Use of steroids or antibiotics will harm you in the long run. Also any ointment will make your eyes more uncomfortable as it makes the eye surfaces hydrophobic and tears don't stick to your eyes as well.