Dry eyes have many potential causes and can lead to significant discomfort. Many people find dry eyes distracting or even painful in severe cases.
Dry eyes can present various symptoms, but if you experience any of them, it’s best to contact your eye doctor. Our practice has numerous dry eye therapies that can help you manage this irritating condition.
Want to know if you may be experiencing symptoms of dry eye disease? Take our Dry Eye Questionnaire below!
Nearly 30% of Canadians have dry eyes. Your risk for dry eyes may increase if you:
Many of these risk factors can lead to dry eyes by affecting the meibomian glands located in the eyelids. If the meibomian glands can no longer produce the oil that keeps the tear film balanced, the tears will evaporate too quickly, leading to dry eyes.
In your upper and lower eyelids, there are a number of meibomian glands that excrete oils to your eye surface. These oils play an instrumental role in sealing in the rest of your tear film, preventing it from evaporating. However, if these glands are blocked, the oils they produce cannot seal in your tear film, leading to evaporative dry eye symptoms.
This condition, known as meibomian gland dysfunction, is one of the most common causes of dry eye. It can occur as you age, but genetics, wearing eyeliner, or even wearing contact lenses can contribute to its development
Blepharitis is the inflammation of the eyelids caused by meibomian gland dysfunction, infection, allergies, or even eyelash mites.
Blepharitis can lead to crusted eyelashes, flaking skin around the eyes, swollen eyelids, light sensitivity, red eyes, or even blurred vision.
To help diagnose issues like meibomian gland dysfunction, we can use an imaging technique known as meibography to get a detailed picture of your meibomian glands.
Tear osmolarity testing helps our team determine the salt content of your tears. Normal osmolarity is essential for retaining your tears and spreading them evenly over the surface of your eye.
Tears with high levels of salt, also known as hyperosmolarity, could indicate that your tears are evaporating too quickly, a telltale sign of evaporative dry eye.
Another way we can help diagnose dry eye syndrome is monitoring the time it takes for your tear film to evaporate after you blink, also known as your tear break-up time. Dry eye conditions can increase how fast your tear film evaporates, but we can find a solution to help keep your tear film stable.
If you have dry eye symptoms, you may find yourself blinking more often to keep your eyes comfortable. Our team can monitor and measure how much you blink, and, from our findings, we can look for the root cause of your dry eye syndrome.
Your tear meniscus is a thin strip of tear fluid located on the surface of your upper and lower eyelid. If you have a tear meniscus height of less than 0.25 mm, you may experience dry eye symptoms.
Perception Eyecare has a range of therapies available for our patients with dry eyes. If you think you might have dry eyes, reach out to us and schedule an appointment. We can determine whether you are suffering from dry eyes or another condition and help design a treatment plan.
We can provide the following tools and methods to help our patients deal with dry eyes:
Artificial tears can reduce many symptoms associated with dry eyes. Once we assess the nature and severity of your dry eyes, our eye doctors can recommend various brands and products to help you. Products we carry include Hyabak, Thealoz Duo, I-Drop MGD, I-Drop Pur, Systane Complete, and others. You can also purchase lubricating eye drops at our online store.
Some topical steroids can quickly and effectively relieve dry eye symptoms in moderate to severe cases. Many of these steroids have powerful anti-inflammatory properties, which reduce the swelling that many with dry eyes find so uncomfortable.
Your eye doctor can insert small plugs into your tear ducts to prevent your tears from evaporating too quickly. Using punctal plugs in combination with topical treatments is often much more effective than using topical treatments by themselves.
Medicated drops approved by Health Canada can be prescribed for moderate to severe dry eyes.
The debris along the eyelids can cause dry eye and every time you blink, more oil and dirt can be pushed onto your tear film, making it worse. Zocular Eyelid System Treatment (ZEST) is an in-office treatment that uses an okra-infused product to lift and clear residue on your eyelid margins. The treatment exfoliates and cleans your eyelids.
Bruder compression masks use heat, moisture, and gentle pressure to reduce inflammation, which can also help unblock your meibomian glands. Many patients find Bruder masks easy to use at home after we have shown them how to wear them.
These contact lenses have a larger-than-average surface area that covers the entire cornea, creating a hydrating fluid reservoir. Scleral lenses may reduce dry eye symptoms and are ideal for patients whose dry eyes make other lenses impossible to wear comfortably.
Various cleansing wipes can improve the effects of other treatments for dry eyes when used together. Our practice can provide several types of cleansing wipes, including Blephaclean, Blephagel, and Systane products.
Are your gritty, irritated eyes becoming a bothersome problem? Want to know if you may be experiencing symptoms of dry eye disease? Take our Dry Eye Questionnaire below!
Ready to take back control of your dry eye symptoms? Find the relief you’ve been missing – shop our dry eye products from the comfort of and convenience of home!
If you are suffering from dry eyes, we can help. Contact our practice and schedule an appointment so we can help you find the right strategy for managing this condition.
You can find Perception Eyecare in the Southmount Health Care Centre in the Fortinos Plaza.
We’re located in a standalone health centre with ample free parking on 3 sides of the building.
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