In the clinic, I get asked this question all day long, "What's causing my eyes to be so dry?" The short answer is that dry eye is multifactorial. It comes from many different causes. Some of the things we have no control over, like your gender and your age.  Women, especially those over 40, are more likely to have dry eye than men. And, we can't change our gender or age.  But, there are a ton of causes of dry eye that we can control.   

Let's talk about what you can take care or change to help our dry eyes. I like to break this down into three parts. I called it the EYE Method.  The first is E for eyes. The Y is for Your Health. And, the final E is for the Environment. 

Let's look at each part.  Last week, I dove in to how the Eyes play a role in causing dry eye disease.  If you missed it,...

There was a great lecture on Sleep last week sponsored by my friends at Umay.  Poor sleep habits have a direct relationship to the dryness of your eyes.  

You can watch the webinar here.  But, I also wanted to highlight some of the most important points in this blog.  There are several hacks you can use to encourage your body to sleep better.

Here are the best tips:

#1) Keep a Consistent Sleep Schedule 
Getting good sleep starts from the minute you wake up.  Your actions all day long will have an affect on how well you are able to rest that evening.  Thinking about setting your circadian rhythm will go a long way in helping your body wind down at the end of the day. 

Try to keep the same bedtime as well as the same waking time each day.  Being consistent within 15-30 minutes will set yo...

If you have been hanging around with me for a while now, then you know that I preach the same rules over and over and over again.  In the past couple of weeks, I've had some thinking time. I started to re-evaluate my hard and fast rules.

I would like to review these 4 dry eye rules. Last week, I reviewed 2 of them.  If you haven't read about those two, please check it out here.  It turns out that there are times when it's okay to break the rules.  Let me tell you when you can break three of them.  Then, I'll explain why you can never, ever, ever, ever, ever break one of them.

Rule #1)  Never Use Waterproof Mascara

Why is it bad for you?

It's a rule because waterproof mascara contains toxins. The ingredients that makes it stick onto your eyes makes it hard to remove. Some of it stays...

Next week is the official start of Spring. Woohoo!

I couldn't wait for this day to get here.  As a dry eye sufferer myself, I have a harder time dealing with artificial heat and that lack of moisture in the air than I do with pollen.

However, if you're an allergy sufferer, you may be hiding inside today. I want to go over three ways to help you wear your contact lenses during the spring season. The three ways to continue wearing contact lenses even though it's allergy season are: prevent, cleanse and dispose.

No. 1) Prevent

Prevent the pollen from getting in your eyes. You could do this as simply as wearing sunglasses.  This would mean that any time you're outdoors, you wear sunglasses.  Utilizing a style with side shields would prevent wind, pollen, and dust from getting into your eye...

Happy Mari Gras!

It's Mardi Gras season here in Louisiana.  And, Mardi Gras season gives the folks here in Louisiana one more thing to celebrate.  There are parties, parades, masquerade balls, and lots of fun to be had.  Everyone likes to get dressed up for it and wear beaded necklaces and fun masks. 

Since there is a lot of masquerading going on, it's the perfect time to talk about an eye condition that often masquerades as dry eyes - seasonal allergies. Or, I should say that allergies sometimes aren't the cause of your symptoms and it's really dry eye that's the underlying problem.

My patients often come in to see me and talk to me about symptoms of redness and watering. Then, they down play the symptoms by stating, "It's just my allergies". That's how it masquerades. A symptom that...

This week, I'm going to talk to you about something that probably, you never thought someone from Louisiana would teach you about.  It's something called snow blindness.  It can occur when you go outdoors and you enjoy yourself for the day when there's snow on the ground and you didn't protect your eyes properly.

When we go outdoors on a cold day I'm sure you've put on your long Johns, so  your legs will be nice and warm. You put on your winter boots, you put on your coat, you put on your hood, you put on your gloves, and finally you go outside and you enjoy yourself all day. You've protected your body, but you forgot one crucial thing because maybe it was also cloudy.  You didn't wear eye protection with an Ultra Violet (UV) blocker. 

 And the next day, when you wake up, your eyes are r...

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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The Dazzling Eyes Bundle

I want to talk to you about clean makeup products that can give your eyes a dazzling look this holiday season.  Just because you suffer from dry eyes does not mean that you have to give up on your makeup. Absolutely not, Ladies. There are products out there that you can use that will make your eyes look great and be comfortable. So let's get started. I've got five steps to having dazzling eyes this holiday season.

Step No. 1) Clean Eyes 

Begin with clean eyes. If you've been following me for a while, you know, I like you to use four simple steps to take care of your eyes every day.

Step one is to clean your lids and lashes. One of the products I recommend most is a hypochlorous spray. It kills bacteria and viruses that live on our lids and lashes and can cause redness and irritation. Th...