Have you ever noticed red, irritated eyelids or an itchy, scratchy feeling at the base of your lashes? You might have been told you have Demodex blepharitis, or DB. Although DB may sound concerning, it’s very common. And, there are effective treatments available. 

What Is Demodex Blepharitis? 

Demodex blepharitis is a common type of eyelid inflammation caused by an overgrowth of Demodex mites. tiny These mites are tiny micro-organisms that live in your eyelash follicles. Everyone has some Demodex mites, but when their numbers increase too much, they can lead to irritation and inflammation. 

Signs and Symptoms of Demodex Blepharitis: 

🔴 Red, swollen eyelids 
🤕 Itchy or scratchy sensation at the lash line 
⚡ Burning or irritation, especially in the morning 
🕵️‍♂️ Crusty debris at the bas...

Let's talk about treating your dry eyes when you hate taking eye drops. I have lots of patients in my office that just don't like taking drops. Or, perhaps it's hard for them to use drops because they have arthritis and can't squeeze the bottles, or their handshake too much.  It turns out there are several alternatives to your dry eye treatment that don't require putting drops in your eyes. 

If you have dry eyes, I always advocate taking 4-simple steps every day to treat your dry eyes. These steps are: hydrate, harmonize, heat, and heal.

1. Hydrate: Using something to help produce more tears in your eyes to lubricate them.
2. Harmonize: Removing bacteria and biofilm from your lids and lashes.
3. Heat: Using a warm compress to heat up the meibomian gland that live in the eyelids and relea
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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...

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...

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...