Over the past 12 months I’ve had a constant watery eye. Now it’s happened to the other one and it’s so annoying. I recently saw an optician who suggested bathing my eyes with pads dipped in hot water. But it’s made no difference. What more can I do?
Mary Stock, Newport.
Watery eyes have a variety of causes. Some are short-lived and will be obvious, such as infection of the cornea (keratitis), an allergy or a stye (an infection that leads to a tender lump near the eyelid).
In these cases, the watering is a result of an irritant to the eye causing excess tear production (one role of tears is to wash out dirt), and the watering will cease once the cause of irritation goes.
Did you know? Dry eyes are typically the result of a problem with the meibomian glands in the upper and lower eyelids
However, as the optician advised you to bathe your eyelids with pads soaked in hot water, this suggests they think you have dry eye syndrome. This might seem confusing — that dry eyes lead to excess tears — but let me explain.
Dry eyes are typically the result of a problem with the meibomian glands in the upper and lower eyelids. These glands secrete the oil that helps encase tears, minimising the evaporation of the watery fluid.
However, if the glands become blocked, the lack of oil means the tears evaporate more easily, causing dry patches on the eye itself.
In response, more tears are produced; but, missing the stabilising effects of oil, these then tend to spill over the eyelid edge.
Your optician suggested using hot water bathing — good advice as heat can help melt any thickened oil clogging the glands and improve the output of the gland, too. However, you need to continue for some weeks to see the benefit.
It may improve the results if you use an eye pad containing linseed (available from opticians and chemists) that can be warmed in a microwave. This can then be applied to the eyes, while reclining, for ten minutes twice daily.
Production of oil by the meibomian glands is improved by this technique, as it boosts the blood flow to the eyelid margins and the Meibomian glands are more active when the blood supply is greater.
I have threadworms. I have bought Ovex tablets from my chemist but I still have the problem. I have washed everything in the house. I am at my wits’ end.
Name and address supplied.
Threadworms infest the colon and rectum and are particularly common among the under-tens.
You are correct to take Ovex, the drug mebendazole, at a single dose of 100mg. Mebendazole is also available in liquid form for children.
The infection is easily transferred, so it is wise to treat every member of a household.
Threadworm cause a persistent itch in the anal area, and children tend to scratch, particularly at night, when the worms — which look like lengths of white
