Step 1: Make up remover

  Step 2: Cleanse the Face

Happy New Year!

I like to take the time at the beginning of the year to think about where I am going on purpose.   A lot of times, we feel that life is just happening to us, but that is not the case.  We are all living the life that we ourselves have created. 

Take a minute to look back over 2021 and be thankful for all that you were able to create in your own life.  There is one accomplishment in 2021 that I am most proud of (see #3 below).  But, there were tons of accomplishments along the way as well.  Celebrating your wins is part of living a full life.  You put in the work to accomplish them, so don't hold back on giving yourself the credit you deserve. Here are 3 of my wins from this year:

1. 2021 marked my 20th year since graduation from Optometry School.  It's hard to believe I h
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This week marks a monumental time in my life. You see, about 3 1/2 years ago I set out on a journey to create a simple to follow plan to alleviate dry eye in patience. My goal was to simplify all the information  and consolidate it into a process to eliminate the dry eye drama from your daily life. 

This week marks the three year anniversary of the publishing of that book.  I’d love to give you a free PDF copy of the book.  Click here to get your copy. 

Alleviate Dry Eye, the Book 

The book was written specifically for you, the patient, in mind. The book is an 8 week journey to take your red, painful eyes to looking, feeling, and seeing great. Through the journey, you'll make lifestyle changes to eliminate the redness and irritation that is constantly controlling your life. 

How does...

 Who doesn't love Fall?  We've got hay rides, apple picking, football games, and everything pumpkin spice flavored available for this very short time.  And, this time of year, when the weather gets a little bit cooler here in Louisiana, it is a great time to enjoy being outdoors again.  I want to go over three tips to have happy eyes in the fall.

Tip #1) Hydrate - Keep the moisture coming from the inside

The first tips is to hydrate.  What I mean by this is continue to drink water. I've got a cup that I keep on my desk at the office with a straw so that I can sip and get all of my ounces of water in while I am working.

It's important to remember to hydrate during this time of the year because  it's not so hot outside. So, you're not as thirsty as you were all summer. You will need...

Sometimes, we get eye infections.  They can seem to come out of no where.  Last week, I had one myself.  I want to tell you five tips to do if you think you've got an eye infection.  These rules apply whether your eyes are dry or not.

Symptoms of an eye infection include: redness, irritation, scratchy sensation, light sensitivity, tearing, and mucus discharge.  In addition, your eye lids may be swollen and painful to the touch.

Infections can be in both eyes at the same time, or just in one eye.  But, be careful, infections can quickly travel from one eye to the other as well.

If you think that there's something going on with your eyes, these five things are going to work for you to help your eye feel better and get relief quick. Here we go.

No. 1) Take your Contact Lenses out

If yo...

Many of my patients ask me about using artificial tears.  There are so many of them on the market.  It's hard to know which ones to use.  

Based on the research provided by the Tear Film and Ocular Surface (TFOS) Society, I advocate using Artificial Tears on a daily basis to care for your dry eyes.  TFOS wrote a report called the Dry Eye Workshop (DEWS II) Report that utilized the expertise of 150 clinicians and scientists from around the world to compile all of the literature available in the dry eye space and write a consensus on how to treat dry eyes.  

The TFOS DEWS II report advises using 4 steps to care for your dry eyes daily:  

1. Every day, the first step is to hydrate your eyes with an artificial tear.
2. The second step is to clean the lids and lashes.
3. The third step is to...

I'm going to talk today about a question that my patients ask me all of the time: "How can I wear my contact lenses during allergy season?" "They're itchy, they're red, they run water all over the place, I don't know what to do, I can't get my contacts in!" I've got three tips for you today on how to wear your contact lenses during allergy season.

Tip #1) Take a Break

Tip number one: Take a break! You don't have to wear your contact lenses every day! I know you don't want to hear this, but maybe just during this season, save them for special occasions. Wear them occasionally. Wear them less time during the day, take them out when you get home, or only wear them when you're going out. Take a little break.

Tip #2) Wear a Daily-disposable Contact Lens

Number two, wear a daily-disposabl...

It's Springtime, and we've been talking a lot about how to take care of yourself during the spring. If you missed it, the last blog was all about Springtime allergies, how to avoid them, and a couple of tips on how to treat them.

Now that we know that we should just avoid Springtime allergies, we're going to dive into what to do about your eyes when you're suffering from allergies. I've got three tips for you today on how to treat your eyes when you're suffering from Springtime allergies and maybe even still have dry eyes to kind of compound the fact.

Tip #1) Artificial Tears and Cool Compresses

Use artificial tears and a cool compress. We've got right here, a cool compress. You're going to just have that ready in the freezer and then you can come home and lay that over the eyes. The hi...

It is said that dry eye has as many symptoms as it has causes.  One person's dry eyes may feel completely different than the next person's dry eyes.  Some patients complain that they are dry and scratchy and the next complains that they are irritated and watery. 

Some of my patients feel their dry eyes feel worst and night and some feel worse in the mornings.  When you have eye irritation first thing in the morning, there are usually a few key reasons.

One of the first questions I like to ask my dry eye patients is, "Do your eyes feel more tired and irritated first thing in the morning or at the end of the day?"  The reason that I like to ask this question is that I want to get to the root cause of the dry eye symptoms.

Knowing when the eyes are most dry tells me a lot about the lids.  ...