Pronounced: Kera-to-con-JUNK-tiv-eye-tis sick-ah
Keratoconjunctivitis is a condition in which the conjunctiva
(the membranes on the surface of the eye) become red and
inflamed. The most common form of this condition is
keratoconjunctivitis sicca. This occurs when the surface of the
eye becomes dry due to a lack of quality tears. This dryness in
the eye causes mild irritation in some patients, but severe
discomfort and even visual problems in others. The pain from
keratoconjunctivitis sicca can be eased with medical treatment,
so it is important to contact your eye doctor if you think you
might have this condition. Copyright © Nucleus Medical Media,
Inc. There are two main reasons that keratoconjunctivitis sicca
occurs. The first is that the eye no longer makes enough tears
to keep the surface moist, and the front surface of the eye
dries out. Alternatively, the eye does make enough tears, but
they evaporate too quickly. In this case, the tears produced are
of poor quality, not adequately coating the surface o