No. 1)  Avoid toxic ingredients in your self-care products.

No. 1)  Contact lenses are not costumes

This past week, I got an up-close and personal reminder of how painful inflammation can be.  I was out on my morning run.  It is by far my exercise of choice for getting the blood flowing and clearing my mind.  

Well, I must not have been thinking about my feet because all of a sudden I was face down on the asphalt.  Ugh.  I rolled on to my back and saw stars all at the same time.  I am a true believer in the discomfort of inflammation.

Do you remember last week when we went over the 4 steps to alleviate your dry eye symptoms?  They are hydrate, harmonize, heat, and heal,  If you want to go back and review that blog again, just click here.

The fourth step - heal has to do with reducing inflammation.  I suggest taking an omega fatty acid supplement called HydroEye by ScienceBased health....

Several years ago, I began to struggle with dry eyes.  This was at a time when I lived in a very dry climate, and I wore contact lenses most of the time. My eyes would get dry towards the end of my workday, and I couldn’t wait to take them off when I finally got home.   

Most days a couldn't stand to wear eye makeup.  I knew there must be a better way to live.  I couldn't go on with the feeling of wanting to claw the contact lenses from my eyes before 5 pm. 

I began to research how to keep moisture in my eyes longer.  I played around and tried every contact lens and contact lens cleaning solution on the market.  I definitely have my favorites from that experiment, but there was still something missing.   

Since then, I’ve read articles, attended lectures, and even written a book on the...

This past weekend, I was able to attend a great event for dry eye practitioners in Central California. Some of the industry's greatest thought leaders were there including Scott Schachter, OD, Peter Pham, MD, Tim Trinh, OD, and Lisa Wahl, OD.

It was really great to reconnect with some of my colleagues and people who have influenced my career greatly.  I was re-introduced to a product that I have been using in my office for about a year now. It is called Zocular.

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know that I often recommend using a lid and lash cleanser.  Lid and lash cleanser is an important step in my 4 step process to alleviate your dry eye symptoms. Please check out my book, Alleviate Dry Eye, to learn more about this process.

Zocular is a gentle but powerful lid ...

Have you ever thought about writing a book?  Joseph Epstein, “81 percent of Americans feel that they have a book in them — and should write it.”  It makes it sound like there are many aspiring authors out there.  So, I thought I would share a little bit about my journey to being an author. 

The book that I have published is actually not the book that I have dreamed about publishing for decades.  So, maybe there is still another book in me.  I can understand that many of you may have a dream of a book in your mind, or maybe 5 books.  I wanted to share with you 3 tools you need to write a book.

 Tool #1 - Know How to Write a Book

I used an online program.  They took me through the process step by step:

https://self-publishingschool.com//how-to-write-a-book

 I had a coach who kept me acc...

My patients will sometimes tell me that they can’t wear contact lenses because their eyes are too dry.  There have been tons of innovations in both contact lenses and contact lens care in recent years.  For the most part, the idea that you can't wear contact lenses when you have dry eyes is a myth.  

Sometimes, not being able to wear contact lenses will be a short period of time while you are undergoing dry eye treatment is true for a short while.  But, my goal is always to find a way to get my patients back into contact lenses or have some kind of refractive surgery, if they are a good candidate - read this blog here.  Some patients do need to take breaks from their contact lenses because of years of abuse they have put their eyes through.  These are the three worst things patients can d...