What is The Best Way to Know if I Have Dry Eyes?
Dry Eye disease, or keratoconjunctivitis sicca, is when the eyes do not produce tears that are healthy or sufficient in quantity. This is a chronic and progressive condition that affects millions of people around the world.
It is often multi-variable with many contributing factors including screen time, age, medications, bacteria, and cholesterol. Due to the complexity and severity of dry eye, our clinic has dedicated its resources to leading dry eye care and providing customized treatment plans.
Symptoms of Dry Eye Disease include:
Burning, watery, redness, swollen, feeling like an eyelash is stuck in your eye, and fluctuating vision are among the main symptoms of the disease. Patients who have watery eyes often have dry eye disease as the quality of tears are not healthy enough to stay on the eyes.
Does eye surgery cause dry eye disease?
While patients may notice dry eye disease after cataract or Lasik surgery, it is not the primary cause of the disease. Patients often have some form of MGD prior to the surgery which is much more noticeable once the integrity of the surface of the eye changes.
Is Dry Eye Curable?
Like diabetes, dry eye disease is not considered curable, but very manageable. Treating dry eye disease involves lifestyle changes and building self-awareness and new habits. Our goal is to manage your disease through holistic eye care in a drug-free manner. We have achieved a 94% success rate amongst our patients which includes a significant improvement in their quality of life. Maintenance treatments are available to keep your dry eye disease in remission.
Who is Affected With Dry Eye Syndrome?
Dry eye syndrome may affect someone at any age, but it gets more frequent as people become older. Women are more likely to be affected than males. Those who average more than 3 hours a day on digital devices are often more affected by dry eye disease.
I have tried over-the-counter eye drops, but they don’t seem to help. Why is that?
Lubricating eye drops are often considered temporary relief remedies. These band-aids do not treat the root cause to alleviate signs and symptoms that are lasting. Using eye drops for comfort is ok, however, years of progression without any actual treatment can lead to irreversible gland damage over time.
Since I Have Dry Eye Disease, May I Wear Contacts?
Dry eyes may be exacerbated by using contact lenses. It is recommended to treat the underlying dry eye disease in order to have the best contact lens-wearing experience.
What else can I do on my own to improve my dry eye?
Reducing the amount of air blowing in your face and taking frequent breaks while on digital devices are great ways to alleviate some of your symptoms.
What can I expect during my first visit?
The doctor will have specific scans completed for the surface of the eye to determine the root causes of your condition. He will then also create a comprehensive medical report and treatment plan for you to know how we can start managing the chronic condition as soon as possible.
How do dry eye treatments feel?
To many of our patients’ surprise, dry eye treatments are very comfortable and manageable. The individualized treatment schedule is determined by the doctor.
My symptoms are just mild for now, do I need to come in?
Dry Eye Disease can be very misleading. As long as your glands are functioning well, you may lose about half of them before even noticing any symptoms. It is important to get scanned once a year to ensure that you are preserving your glands with treatments, healthy habits, and nutrition.
Can I lose my sight from Dry Eye?
This is a common concern for patients. It’s important to know only in severe cases of dry eye without any treatment or management do you lose all of your vision to dry eye disease. However, it is also important to note that gland loss occurs over time due to chronic dry eye and is very challenging to restore to the original condition.
What if I continue managing my dry eye with just artificial tears?
Due to the irreversible gland damage that dry eye disease can cause, it is important to at least get a meibography scan once a year to determine the health of your glands. If gland loss is determined, similar to a cavity, it may continue to decay over time until symptoms start to worsen. If you are losing glands over time, the earlier you detect and treat, the better off you will be long-term.