Dry Eye Treatment

You’ve probably heard or read about Dry Eyes.

One out of Four of the population have Dry Eye to some degree. There are many approaches to managing it.

SYMPTOMS OF DRY EYES
You may have dry eyes if you experience the following symptoms:

• Feeling of itchiness or burning in the eyes

• Red or irritated eyes

• Mucus at the corners of your eyes

• Sensitivity to light

• The feeling of having something lodged in the eye

• Blurriness & fatigue

• Issues with contact lens

• Watering of the eyes

OTHER CAUSES FOR DRY EYES
Menopause:

• Particles getting into and clogging-up the tear glands

• Production of low-quality tears

• Health conditions like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, vitamin A deficiency, scleroderma, thyroid conditions,

• Sjogren syndrome or lupus

• Laser eye surgeries (although this is often a temporary symptom)

• Eye conditions like turned-in and turned-out eyelids

• Certain medications, drugs and hormones which impact tear duct functioning

• Prolonged staring at a computer or TV screen

• Smoking

Dr. Smith credits his vast experience with Dry Eye management from working alongside corneal specialist Dr. Nicole Fram in Beverly Hills, Ca. There, he managed the dry eye clinic and aided patients in unique treatments.

For some, patients’ symptoms may be aided with simple improved ocular hygiene. This may be remembering to blink while on a digital device, or instilling artificial tears throughout the day.

For those with more significant signs and symptoms of dry eye disease, we may need to get more creative.

The majority of patient’s dry eye stems from ocular inflammation. This may be due to a myriad of factors: environment, stress, hormones, contact lenses and even systemic disease.

Some ways we manage dry eye disease in our office:
Treatments we offer include:

• Anti-inflammatory medications to increase natural tear production

• Unclog the meibomian glands, with in-office gland expression

• Treat Rosacea and other causes of ocular inflammation, using IPL Therapy

• Temporary punctal plugs to prevent tear drainage from the eyes

• Stem cell therapy to treat damage and inflammation

• Specialty contact lenses to protect the cornea and eye from exposure

• We offer serum tear therapy