941-485-1121
Are your eyes dry, irritated, or watery? You may be suffering from a condition known as chronic dry eye syndrome. If you are, you’re not alone! Every year millions of Americans are diagnosed with dry eye.
Dry eye is a chronic eye condition. With dry eye, you are either unable to produce enough tears, or the tears produced are low quality.
There are often several factors at play when someone has dry eye. Some of the most common factors include:
Since it’s difficult to change many of these factors or cut them out completely, what can you do? Schedule an appointment at Stephenson Eye Associates to discuss treatment options.
Living in a dry or windy place makes you more susceptible to dry eye. Luckily, there are things you can do to help your dry eye. First things first, invest in a humidifier. Ideally, you should put one in your bedroom or other rooms you spend the most time in. Humidifiers help add missing moisture back into the air, which dry eyes need. Winter can be one of the most frustrating seasons for people with dry eye. Besides getting a humidifier, avoid direct heat sources. These include heat pumps, forced heating systems, and hair dryers. Direct heat sources that blow hot air are another way that you may be drying out your eyes!
We live in a digital world, which has negative consequences if you have dry eye. You can’t avoid screens and computers, but you can cut down on how long you use them. Make sure to take frequent breaks, about every twenty minutes. This means get up and get away from the computer! Let your eyes focus on something nearby for a few seconds that’s not a screen. Doing this periodically can make a big difference. It may seem silly, but make sure you remember to blink! Blinking is how the eye self-lubricates. When you’re in front of screens, your blinking rate decreases. This is what causes your eyes to feel dry and scratchy after a long time spent staring at a screen.
If you have a chronic condition like diabetes, it’s something you have to deal with for the rest of your life. If you have dry eye and a chronic condition, the key is keeping it under control. If you’re a diabetic, this means having a healthy lifestyle and regular blood sugar levels. You may want to consider eating a diet that’s high in omega-3 fatty acids. These are in foods like salmon and leafy green vegetables.
With a condition called dry eye, you would assume that if you have dry eye, your eyes are going to be dry. But there are other common symptoms of dry eye including:
With these symptoms, it may be difficult to know when you actually have dry eye. Often, these symptoms can overlap with other eye conditions. In these cases, it’s important that you see an eye doctor to determine if there is anything wrong with your eyes.
As a prevalent eye condition, you may be wondering if you have to live with the symptoms of dry eye forever. Thankfully, there are various treatment options available if you do have dry eye. Before starting treatment, your eye doctor will need to test your eyes for dry eye. This is the only way to know if someone has dry eye. When your eyes are tested for dry eye, it is to test the quality and quantity of tears produced.
If you do have dry eye, the first step is often starting with artificial tears. Artificial tears help replace moisture and lubricant that your eyes are missing. If you have a more severe case of dry eye, your eye doctor may recommend prescription medications. There are also in-office procedures that can help your eyes create more tears.
The TearCare® System is an innovative in-office treatment for Meibomian Gland Disease (MGD). When these glands become blocked or have reduced function, your tears may evaporate more quickly. Unblocking these glands with The TearCare® System can help restore their function and stabilize the tear film. This may improve the quality of tears and reduce symptoms like dryness, gritty or scratchy sensations, blurry vision, and watery eyes.
The TearCare® device fits comfortably to the external surface of your eyelids and applies precisely controlled therapeutic heat to liquify stagnant oils in the glands of your eye. The device’s flexible design works around each unique eye shape. The procedure takes 15 minutes and is followed by meibomian gland expression.
This device can be used in conjunction with IPL therapy. These two treatments work on different aspects of Meibomian Gland Disease and have a synergistic effect on dry eye disease.
Ready to put a stop to dry eye running your life? Schedule a dry eye consultation with Stephenson Eye Associates in Venice, Florida today!
E-Eye is a device that generates polychromatic pulsed light pulses (Intense Pulsed Light, or IPL) to directly treat the Meibomian glands of patients diagnosed with dry eye disorders.
Dry eye discomfort is often caused by Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD). By stimulating these oil-producing glands over several sessions, E-Eye can restore the lipid layer on the ocular surface.
Using regulated train pulses, E-Eye delivers perfectly calibrated and homogenously sequenced light pulses.
In order to stimulate the meibomian glands, the energy, spectrum, and time period are precisely calculated.
Dry eye is a chronic disease that affects over 30 million people in the U.S. and is caused by deficiencies in the quality and quantity of the tear film. Those suffering with dry eye often struggle with symptoms such as redness, irritation, tearing, and blurry vision. Many try to treat the condition themselves with artificial tears, but continue to experience uncomfortable symptoms, sometimes interfering with their lives.
Approximately 86% of those suffering with dry eye have Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD), and we are now pleasaed to be able to offer real, lasting relief. We’re excited to introduce a revolutionary treatment for dry eye – the iLUX® MGD Treatment System.
MGD occurs when the meibomian glands are blocked and unable to release enough of the essential oily layer of the tear film that coats and protects the front surface of your eye. Without enough of this essential oil, the tear film evaporates, leading to chronic dry eye.
During your examination, our dry eye experts will run advanced diagnostic testing to discover the root cause of your dry eye. If MGD is detected, the iLUX treatment may be recommended.
iLUX® has been shown to significantly reduce dry eye symptoms. Because dry eye is a chronic disease, it is typically necessary to need ongoing treatments – but patients experience relief between treatments.
tearcheck® is a state-of-the-art diagnostic test that focuses on your tears, those tiny drops that play a big role in your eye health. This non-invasive procedure allows us to evaluate the quality and quantity of your tears, providing invaluable insights into the condition of your eyes.
tearcheck® is designed with your comfort and convenience in mind. During a routine eye examination, our experts will perform the tearcheck® test effortlessly. By analyzing your tears, we can accurately diagnose any tear-related problems and develop a tailored treatment plan just for you.
