Q I suffer from gritty and watering eyes, particularly when it is windy. Do you have any advice?

A As we get older we tend to get dryness of the eyes. This affects nearly everyone to some extent and usually responds to the use of artificial tears on a regular and long-term basis.

There is also a condition called blepharitis which is a sensitivity to a toxin produced by a commonly occurring bacterium which lives in the follicles of the eyelashes. Again it becomes more common with age. The secret to treatment of this condition is eyelid toilet which is to wash the eyelids daily with warm water with a couple of drops of baby shampoo in it to break down the surface tension and aid cleansing. Sometimes antibiotic eye drops are useful to reduce the numbers of bacteria and the use of artificial tears can help with the grittiness experienced.

Updated: 09:18 Monday, March 11, 2002