Select Page

Does your dry eyes cause migraine headaches?

If you have noticed that dry eyes accompany a migraine headache, you may not be alone.  

Symptoms of Dry Eyes

Dry eyes can accompany an array of different symptoms, such as:

  • Stinging
  • Burning
  • A feeling of sand in the eye
  • Excessive tears
  • Discharge
  • Redness
  • Inflammation
  • Blurred Vision
  • Eyelids that feel heavy or tired
  • Sensitivity to light
  • Auras

In those who suffer migraines, sensitivity to light and auras often accompany a headache.

The Connection Between Migraines and Dry Eyes

In a recent publication by the National Institute of Health (NIH) revealed that there is a typical characteristic of an aura that was significantly higher in migraine sufferers with dry eye than those without.  In addition, migraine patients with dry eye also suffered from longer attack durations. So, the question arises: Do migraine headaches cause dry eyes or do dry eyes cause migraine headaches?

In another study, there was evidence to show that migraine headaches are related to dry eye disease.  In addition, dry eye syndrome may bring on some migraine attacks. Therefore, treating dry eyes may allow some migraine sufferers to stop a migraine from occurring.

Causes of Dry Eyes

Various factors can cause dry eyes such as environmental, physical, chemical, and medical.  All of these factors can disrupt the flow of tears and cause the eyes to become dry, red, and irritated.  Some common culprits of dry eyes are:

  • Windy, dry climates
  • High temperatures
  • Bright sunlight
  • Pollution
  • Air pollutants such as pollen, dust, or dander
  • Certain medications
  • Blue light from computer screens
  • Autoimmune diseases such as Sjogren’s syndrome
  • Eye hygiene routine (or lack thereof)

Most all of the causes of dry eye can be controlled to some degree.  For example, staying out of windy weather, limiting time on a computer, and limiting exposure to dust and dander are all positive actions you can take to decrease the amount of dryness to the eyes.  

Photophobia (Sensitivity to Light) and Dry Eyes

Sensitivity to light is the most common complaint of those who suffer from both dry eyes and headaches. Some people experience such sensitivity to light during a headache, they see auras. Even low light indoors is too much for a migraine sufferer, and dry eyes just exacerbate the problem.

Some people use over-the-counter (OTC) eyedrops to temporarily relieve dry eyes, but most OTC drops contain chemicals that restrict

However, the eyes need to be healthy in order to work correctly and there is an all-natural solution to dry eyes…TheraLife Eye.

The 100% Natural Solution to Dry Eyes is TheraLife

Don’t continue to suffer with sensitivity to light or headaches due to dry eyes.  Let TheraLife help. By allowing the eyes to produce healthy tears and without the aid of messy drops or dangerous chemicals, dry eye relief is now obtainable, naturally.  Artificial tears only mask the problem and do not solve the underlying issue of dry eyes.

TheraLife attacks the source of dry eyes:  underactive tear secretion. Whether a decrease in tears is caused from the environment, a medical condition, or even a medication, TheraLife can give your body the ability to produce its own natural healing tears.  Restore comfortable vision and end dry, painful, irritated eyes that may be leading to those headaches with TheraLife.

As a leader in chronic dry eye relief, TheraLife has a complete line of products to address the root cause of dry eyes.

The TheraLife Starter Kit contains 4 bottles of TheraLife Eye, 1 bottle of purified Fish Oil, 1 bottle of eyelid cleanser, and 1 warm compress.   

Stop covering the problem of dry eyes that may lead to migraines and try TheraLife today.  The only thing you may lose is your dry eyes and headaches.

References

  1. dry eyCraig JP, Nichols KK, Akpek EK, Caffery B, Dua HS, Joo CK, et al. TFOS DEWS II definition and classification report. Ocul Surf. 2017;15:276–83.

    Grubbs JR Jr, Tolleson-Rinehart S, Huynh K, Davis RM. A review of quality of life measures in dry eye questionnaires. Cornea. 2014;33:215–8.

  2. Bakkar MM, Shihadeh WA, Haddad MF, Khader YS. Epidemiology of symptoms of dry eye disease (DED) in Jordan: a cross-sectional non-clinical population-based study. Cont Lens Anterior Eye. 2016;39:197–202.

  3. 4.

    Hashemi H, Khabazkhoob M, Kheirkhah A, Emamian MH, Mehravaran S, Shariati M, et al. Prevalence of dry eye syndrome in an adult population. Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2014;42:242–8.

  4. 5.

    Lee AJ, Lee J, Saw SM, Gazzard G, Koh D, Widjaja D, et al. Prevalence and risk factors associated with dry eye symptoms: a population based study in Indonesia. Br J Ophthalmol. 2002;86:1347–51.

  5. 6.

    Moss SE, Klein R, Klein BE. Prevalence of and risk factors for dry eye syndrome. Arch Ophthalmol. 2000;118:1264–8.

  6. 7.

    Onwubiko SN, Eze BI, Udeh NN, Arinze OC, Onwasigwe EN, Umeh RE. Dry eye disease: prevalence, distribution and determinants in a hospital-based population. Cont Lens Anterior Eye. 2014;37:157–61.

  7. 8.

    Sendecka M, Baryluk A, Polz-Dacewicz M. Prevalence and risk factors of dry eye syndrome. Przegl Epidemiol. 2004;58:227–33.

  8. 9.

    Tan LL, Morgan P, Cai ZQ, Straughan RA. Prevalence of and risk factors for symptomatic dry eye disease in Singapore. Clin Exp Optom. 2015;98:45–53.

  9. 10.

    Uchino M, Nishiwaki Y, Michikawa T, Shirakawa K, Kuwahara E, Yamada M, et al. Prevalence and risk factors of dry eye disease in Japan: Koumi study. Ophthalmology. 2011;118:2361–7.

  10. 11.

    Vehof J, Kozareva D, Hysi PG, Hammond CJ. Prevalence and risk factors of dry eye disease in a British female cohort. Br J Ophthalmol. 2014;98:1712–7.

  11. 12.

    Zhang Y, Chen H, Wu X. Prevalence and risk factors associated with dry eye syndrome among senior high school students in a county of Shandong Province, China. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2012;19:226–30.

  12. 13.

    Um SB, Kim NH, Lee HK, Song JS, Kim HC. Spatial epidemiology of dry eye disease: findings from South Korea. Int J Health Geogr. 2014;13:31.

  13. 14.

    Stapleton F, Alves M, Bunya VY, Jalbert I, Lekhanont K, Malet F, et al. TFOS DEWS II epidemiology report. Ocul Surf. 2017;15:334–65.

  14. 15.

    Malet F, Le Goff M, Colin J, Schweitzer C, Delyfer MN, Korobelnik JF, et al. Dry eye disease in French elderly subjects: the Alienor study. Acta Ophthalmol. 2014;92:e429–36.

  15. 16.

    Maruyama K, Yokoi N, Takamata A, Kinoshita S. Effect of environmental conditions on tear dynamics in soft contact lens wearers. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2004;45:2563–8.

  16. 17.

    Porcar E, Pons AM, Lorente A. Visual and ocular effects from the use of flat-panel displays. Int J Ophthalmol. 2016;9:881–5.

  17. 18.

    Sayin N, Kara N, Pekel G, Altinkaynak H. Effects of chronic smoking on central corneal thickness, endothelial cell, and dry eye parameters. Cutan Ocul Toxicol. 2014;33:201–5.

  18. 19.

    Azuma M, Yabuta C, Fraunfelder FW, Shearer TR. Dry eye in LASIK patients. BMC Res Notes. 2014;7:420.

  19. 20.

    Astakhov YS, Astakhov SY, Lisochkina AB. Assessment of dry eye signs and symptoms and ocular tolerance of a preservative-free lacrimal substitute (Hylabak (R)) versus a preserved lacrimal substitute (Systane (R)) used for 3 months in patients after LASIK. Clin Ophthalmol. 2013;7:2289–97.

  20. 21.

    Kastelan S, Lukenda A, Salopek-Rabatic J, Pavan J, Gotovac M. Dry eye symptoms and signs in long-term contact lens wearers. Coll Antropol. 2013;37(Suppl 1):199–203.

  21. 22.

    Welch D, Ousler GW 3rd, Nally LA, Abelson MB, Wilcox KA. Ocular drying associated with oral antihistamines (loratadine) in the normal population-an evaluation of exaggerated dose effect. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2002;506:1051–5.

  22. 23.

    Ohtsuki M, Yokoi N, Mori K, Matsumoto Y, Adachi W, Ishibashi K, et al. Adverse effects of beta-blocker eye drops on the ocular surface. Nippon Ganka Gakkai Zasshi. 2001;105:149–54.

  23. 24.

    Hallak JA, Tibrewal S, Jain S. Depressive symptoms in patients with dry eye disease: a case-control study using the Beck depression inventory. Cornea. 2015;34:1545–50.

  24. 25.

    Labbe A, Wang YX, Jie Y, Baudouin C, Jonas JB, Xu L. Dry eye disease, dry eye symptoms and depression: the Beijing eye study. Br J Ophthalmol. 2013;97:1399–403.

    PubMed Article PubMed Central Google Scholar

  25. 26.

    Rentka A, Nagy A, Harsfalvi J, Szucs G, Szekanecz Z, Gesztelyi R, et al. Association between objective signs and subjective symptoms of dry eye disease in patients with systemic sclerosis. Rheumatol Int. 2017;37:1835–45.

  26. 27.

    Song H, Zhang M, Hu X, Li K, Jiang X, Liu Y, et al. Correlation analysis of ocular symptoms and signs in patients with dry eye. J Ophthalmol. 2017;2017:1247138.

  27. 28.

    Nichols KK, Nichols JJ, Mitchell GL. The lack of association between signs and symptoms in patients with dry eye disease. Cornea. 2004;23:762–70.

  28. 29.

    Amparo F, Schaumberg DA, Dana R. Comparison of two questionnaires for dry eye symptom assessment: the ocular surface disease index and the symptom assessment in dry eye. Ophthalmology. 2015;122:1498–503.

  29. 30.

    Asiedu K, Kyei S, Mensah SN, Ocansey S, Abu LS, Kyere EA. Ocular surface disease index (OSDI) versus the standard patient evaluation of eye dryness (SPEED): a study of a nonclinical sample. Cornea. 2016;35:175–80.

  30. 31.

    Messmer EM. The pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of dry eye disease. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2015;112:71–81.

  31. 32.

    Potvin R, Makari S, Rapuano CJ. Tear film osmolarity and dry eye disease: a review of the literature. Clin Ophthalmol. 2015;9:2039–47.

  32. 33.

    Bukhari A, Ajlan R, Alsaggaf H. Prevalence of dry eye in the normal population in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Orbit. 2009;28:392–7.

  33. 34.

    Alshamrani AA, Almousa AS, Almulhim AA, Alafaleq AA, Alosaimi MB, Alqahtani AM, et al. Prevalence and risk factors of dry eye symptoms in a Saudi Arabian population. Middle East Afr J Ophthalmol. 2017;24:67–73.

  34. 35.

    Dougherty BE, Nichols JJ, Nichols KK. Rasch analysis of the ocular surface disease index (OSDI). Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011;52:8630–5.

  35. 36.

    Craig JP, Nelson JD, Azar DT, Belmonte C, Bron AJ, Chauhan SK, et al. TFOS DEWS II report executive summary. Ocul Surf. 2017;15:802–12.

  36. 37.

    Jie Y, Xu L, Wu YY, Jonas JB. Prevalence of dry eye among adult Chinese in the Beijing eye study. Eye (Lond). 2009;23:688–93.

  37. 38.

    Viso E, Rodriguez-Ares MT, Gude F. Prevalence of and associated factors for dry eye in a Spanish adult population (the Salnes eye study). Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2009;16:15–21.

  38. 39.

    Ayer L, Venkatesh B, Stewart R, Mandel D, Stein B, Schoenbaum M. Psychological aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: a systematic review. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2015;18(3):322.

  39. 40.

    Yilmaz U, Gokler ME, Unsal A. Dry eye disease and depression-anxiety-stress: a hospital-based case control study in Turkey. Pak J Med Sci. 2015;31:626–31.

  40. 41.

    Schaumberg DA, Sullivan DA, Buring JE, Dana MR. Prevalence of dry eye syndrome among US women. Am J Ophthalmol. 2003;136:318–26.

  41. 42.

    Hom M, De Land P. Prevalence and severity of symptomatic dry eyes in Hispanics. Optom Vis Sci. 2005;82:206–8.

  42. 43.

    Schein OD, Munoz B, Tielsch JM, Bandeen-Roche K, West S. Prevalence of dry eye among the elderly. Am J Ophthalmol. 1997;124:723–8.

  43. 44.

    Shimmura S, Shimazaki J, Tsubota K. Results of a population-based questionnaire on the symptoms and lifestyles associated with dry eye. Cornea. 1999;18:408–11.

  44. 45.

    Uchino M, Dogru M, Yagi Y, Goto E, Tomita M, Kon T, et al. The features of dry eye disease in a Japanese elderly population. Optom Vis Sci. 2006;83:797–802.

  45. 46.

    Chia EM, Mitchell P, Rochtchina E, Lee AJ, Maroun R, Wang JJ. Prevalence and associations of dry eye syndrome in an older population: the Blue Mountains eye study. Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2003;31:229–32.

  46. 47.

    Albietz JM. Prevalence of dry eye subtypes in clinical optometry practice. Optom Vis Sci. 2000;77:357–63.

  47. 48.

    McCarty CA, Bansal AK, Livingston PM, Stanislavsky YL, Taylor HR. The epidemiology of dry eye in Melbourne, Australia. Ophthalmology. 1998;105:1114–9.

  48. 49.

    Lin PY, Tsai SY, Cheng CY, Liu JH, Chou P, Hsu WM. Prevalence of dry eye among an elderly Chinese population in Taiwan: the Shihpai eye study. Ophthalmology. 2003;110:1096–101.

  49. 50.

    Lekhanont K, Rojanaporn D, Chuck RS, Vongthongsri A. Prevalence of dry eye in Bangkok, Thailand. Cornea. 2006;25:1162–7.

  50. 51.

    Sharma A, Hindman HB. Aging: a predisposition to dry eyes. J Ophthalmol. 2014;2014:781683.

  51. 52.

    Titiyal JS, Falera RC, Kaur M, Sharma V, Sharma N. Prevalence and risk factors of dry eye disease in North India: ocular surface disease index-based cross-sectional hospital study. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2018;66:207–11.

  52. 53.

    Paulsen AJ, Cruickshanks KJ, Fischer ME, Huang GH, Klein BE, Klein R, et al. Dry eye in the beaver dam offspring study: prevalence, risk factors, and health-related quality of life. Am J Ophthalmol. 2014;157:799–806.

  53. 54.

    Ferrero A, Alassane S, Binquet C, Bretillon L, Acar N, Arnould L, et al. Dry eye disease in the elderly in a French population-based study (the Montrachet study: maculopathy, optic nerve, nuTRition, neurovAsCular and HEarT diseases): prevalence and associated factors. Ocul Surf. 2018;16:112–9.

  54. 55.

    Wolffsohn J, Arita R, Chalmers R, Djalilian A, et al. TFOS DEWS II diagnostic methodology report. The Ocular Surface. 2017;15:539–74.

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest