Dry eye disease is actually a skin disease, not an eye disease. I wanted to say something a little bit shocking to start off in this blog.   I want to talk about something that maybe you have never heard before. You've been suffering from dry eye for a long time, you've been searching for someone who could tell you what to do about it, but you've never heard that dry eye disease comes from the skin, not the eyes.  This is a new way of thinking about it.

Evaporative Dry Eye

Studies have shown that over 86% of dry eye sufferers have the evaporative type of dry eye.  Evaporative dry eye means not producing enough oils in the tears, which would cover the tear film and prevent the watery part of the tears from evaporating out into the air.

These oils come from oil glands that line the inside...

What do you do if you have a stye? On last week's blog, we talked about what a stye is, and why they were so much more common during our time of self-quarantine during the COVID-19 shutdown.  Eye doctors across the country commented on multiple panels and blogs that that is the infection that they noticed the most from patients during self-quarantine.  If you missed that blog don't worry, you can go back here to review what a stye is.

Now, if you have a stye, what can you do to treat it? There are a number of things you can try at home to get it to heal before going to your doctor's office.  Here is a list of the best practices:

KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF

Avoid touching your face or eyes as much as possible.  Avoid touching the stye itself.  In the long run, you will just irritate it more.   I...

After several months of some length of self-quarantine, we are all beginning to notice new things about ourselves.  This has been an interesting topic in many a Facebook post over the past few months.  

In the health care industry, we have found many different consequences of staying indoors and keeping away from others.  The country may have slowed the spread of COVID-19 with these measures, but other health dilemmas have come about.

In the eye care industry, we have noticed an increase in eyelid infections, namely styes.  A stye is an infection in the oil glands of the eyelid.   The lid becomes red, tender, and inflamed.   As the infection continues, it tends to concentrate in one round area which is red, raised, and tender to the touch.

There are two types of styes:

• External: ...

Many of my patients struggle with wearing I make up all day. They put on make up in the morning,  but it starts to run down their faces by afternoon. The problem is redness, irritation, and watering.  It's the ingredients in the eye makeup: mascara, eye shadow, and eyeliner that are irritating to the eyes. 

Did you know that women use an average of nine personal care products every day?  And, the beauty industry in the United States is highly unregulated. There has not been a new law past in the United States since 1938. As of today, there are only 11 ingredients banned from beauty products made in the United States. Whereas in Europe, there are over 1100 ingredients banned from their ingredient lists.

When I discuss changing makeup products with my patients, I am often met with resist...

 Tip #1) Summer Proof your Beauty Routine

Summer fills most of us with happy memories of time spent outdoors.  Summer is filled with water activities and lots and lots of sunshine.  

When you have dry, sensitive eyes, there are a few more factors affecting your eyes in the summer than any other time of year.  Don't let your red, irritated eyes keep you from enjoying the great outdoors this summer.  Utilize these tips to keep your eyes and your face happy.

There are 3 keys to a successful beauty routine to keep your eyes happy all summer long.

No. 1) NEVER Sleep in your Eye Makeup

Great beauty always begins with a clean face.  Removing your makeup at the end of the day is as important to your eyes as brushing your teeth is to your mouth.  Removing all traces of your eye makeup removes the places where bacteria can live and th...

This past couple of weeks, I have been focusing on the risks of computer use in your eyes.  The first article covered the 7 ways to alleviate digital eye strain.  The second one talked about blinking and how important it is for our vision and to prevent long term dry eye.  And, the third article talked about digital devices causing sleep disruption and how that has long term effects.

In this article, I will cover the effects of prolonged computer use on the clarity of your vision in general.  Increases in nearsightedness have long been a concern (and a topic of research) amongst eye doctors.

I know this is a detour from my usual topics of all things related to dry eye.  Screen time does have significant effects on dry eyes.  But, I thought it would be remiss to leave out another importan...

Kids have been experiencing at-home learning for the last couple of months. Maybe your kiddos have spent more time on digital devices than they would have if they had been in the traditional classroom setting.

Now, school is out. The kids want to enjoy themselves again. Hopefully, they are spending more time outdoors and enjoying playtime and nature. However, these days, kids are spending more and more time on digital devices.  Download a Parent’s Guide to Screen Time here. 

Kids are spending time on their computers and iPads because they are using these devices for socializing, learning, and recreation.  Communication apps like FaceTime, Skype, WhatsApp,  and Zoom have become more popular.  And, many video games are multi-player interactive.  Kids are playing games with their friends...

Blinking Keeps Vision Clear