Our tears are a delicate composition of mainly water and oil. They don’t just come out when we’re sad – our tears function to help ensure our eyes are properly lubricated at all times.
Dry Eye occurs when the water and oil content of our tears goes out of balance. When we lose this equilibrium, it can make our eyes feel terribly uncomfortable, giving us Dry Eye.
Surprisingly, Dry Eye doesn’t necessarily mean that your eyes feel overly dry. Other symptoms include:
Think you might have Dry Eye?
Age - As we age, our eyes become more sensitive and susceptible to Dry Eye.
Gender - Gender is also a factor, with more women than men being diagnosed with dry eye.
Medical Conditions - Certain medical conditions such as Blepharitis, which is inflammation of the eyelid, can cause oil glands to become clogged and lead to Dry Eye. Similarly, Demodex Mites can make your eyelashes their home, eating your eye's natural oils and mechanically blocking oil glands from releasing into your eyes.
Medications - Medications such as antihistamines, decongestants, antihypertensive, and antidepressants all reduce your body's natural tear production, potentially leading to dry eye.
Environmental Conditions - And finally, environmental conditions such as constant use of digital devices, LA's dry climate, and air conditioning or heaters that dehumidify the air can also be a factor.
Speed Questionnaire - This is a quiz to assess the severity of your dry eye symptoms.
Tear Volume - Using a Schirmer’s Test, we are able to determine your tear volume and whether you are able to adequately lubricate your eyes.
Inflammation - We can measure the presence of inflammation through the use of an MMP Biomarker.
Meibomian Gland Structure - Infrared imaging is used to diagnose the damage to your oil-secreting Meibomian Glands, allowing us to treat you accordingly.
Amount of Oil in Tears - This test is used to measure tear film stability and evaporation rate on the eye’s surface.
Careful Slit Lamp Microscopic Evaluation - Careful Slit Lamp Microscopic Evaluation of the eyelid and eyes.
Eyelid Deep Cleaning - Similar to how a dentist deep cleans your teeth, we carefully deep clean your eyelids to remove debris and bacteria that may be accumulating.
Amniotic Membrane Treatment - Using donated placental tissue, we are able to heal your corneas – the front surface of the eye where DRY EYE can occur.
Manual Expression of Clogged Oil Glands - Procedure to unclog oil glands and increase oil production of the eyes.
