It's almost Labor Day weekend, and many of you may be preparing for travel.  I have covered how to travel with dry eyes on a couple of blogs, but I wanted to give an updated version here.  Next week, I am traveling abroad, so I wanted to include a couple of tips for longer airplane travel and a warm compress mask that didn't require a microwave or an electric plugin.

It is very important not to skip out on your eye care routine even when you're out of town.  The results of missing a few nights of care can be disastrous.  I've been there.

I previously wrote a blog about traveling with dry eyes.  You can check out that blog here. It goes over specifically all the things you need to pack in your carry-on versus your checked bag.  And, if you'd like to learn more about some great travel read...

If you have dry eyes, it's important to understand why CLEAN makeup is so important for your eyes and body.  Check out some of the basic ideas around Clean makeup in this blog, and listen to a true Clean beauty expert weigh in on the importance of these products.  Switching to wearing CLEAN makeup you can prevent both eye irritation and wrinkles!!! 

Now that you're fired up about the importance of using Clean Makeup, let's review the three best clean makeup products for sensitive eyes in 2022.  If you feel like your makeup makes your eyes red and irritated, then switching out a few products will be well worth your time. 

I certainly understand how you feel.  Just a few years ago, I was in your shoes too. I was embarrassed that my eye makeup would run down my face by the end of the workda...

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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As 2021 comes to a close, we have a lot of things to be thankful for at Alleviate Dry Eye.  It has been an amazing year of innovation in dry eye care.  We have seen new products and medications being brought to the market for the benefit of our patients.

At Alleviate Dry Eye, I have been working on some new resources for you to help you take back the control of your dry eyes.  In January, there will be an opportunity to learn how your lifestyle choices are affecting how your dry eyes feel.  Stay tuned for a webinar in January.  You'll have the opportunity to get registered for it soon.

Let's take a walk down memory lane and review the 3 best blogs from 2021:

#103 Can I Wear Eye Makeup when My Eyes Are Dry?

You can wear makeup when you have dry eyes.  You may need to make some changes...

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...

A question a lot of people have been asking me online, and in the office, is, "How can I wear eye makeup when my eyes are dry?" It's a really important question, because you don't want to make your dry eyes worse by surrounding your eyes with powders and ingredients that could irritate or cause damage to your eyes. 

Many of my patients experience red, irritated eyes from improper use of makeup.  They complain that their makeup just seems to run down their face by the end of the day.  There are a couple of easy to implement tips to know to make makeup wear possible for your sensitive eyes.  I've got FIVE tips to show you how. Llet's get started.

#1) Take a Break

I hate to start with this one, but if your eyes are truly inflamed and irritated, you may have to start with taking a break fro...

One of the most common complaints I get from my patients that I either see in the office or online in a telehealth visit is, "Why are my eyes so tired?"  And then, the patient usually elaborates with something like this, "I don't know what they're doing, they're just tired. I wake up, and they're tired. I drink my coffee, and they're tired. Why am I so tired all the time?"  Today, I will review three reasons why your eyes are tired.

#1) Your Eyes are Dry

Most Americans are using digital devices constantly.  Whether it's computers, phones, tablets, or even watches.  You are using these electronics for up to eight hours a day. Sometimes you may even use two at a time. You're on the computer and you're on your cellphone all at the same time.  You can't escape these digital devices. The de...

Sleep is very important to the health of your body, as it is the time that your eyes and your body repairs and rejuvenates themselves.  Often, I find that my patients with the driest eyes are very poor sleepers. 

In addition, with the winter season and the holidays going on right now, it may even be a little bit harder to get on a good sleep schedule.  Here are three tips to help you get good sleep this season, which will keep your eyes feeling healthy and happy.

#1) Set Up a Bedtime Routine

You probably have a time that you wake up every morning.  Maybe it's the same Monday through Friday and a little bit later on the weekends, but you have a strict guideline for waking up in order to get to work on time. 

However, not many adults have a set bedtime routine. And having a set bedtime i...

Most of us are spending more and more time on our digital devices these days.  The new normal has been translated into trying to do everything we enjoy doing, only now we are using a device to do it.

No more in-person conferences, hello Zoom meetings.

No more coffee dates with friends, hello FaceTime.

No more shopping in stores, hello Amazon.

No more dinner at restaurants, hello Door Dash.

No more doctor's visits, hello telehealth.

Some of these things may be blessings, but they are leading to more complications down the road.  We are spending more and more time on digital devices to help us live our lives with less person to person contact. 

When we spend time using computers or digital devices, the number of times we blink per minute decreases.  The complication I see showing up...