Dry Eye Survival Guide for Road Trips: Tips to Keep Your Eyes Comfortable on the Go

If you’re hitting the road for a long drive, you might notice that your eyes tend to feel drier than usual. Whether it’s the dry air from the vents, long hours of focus, or just being on the move, road trips can be tough on your eyes. Here are some easy and practical tips to keep your eyes comfortable during your journey.

1. Pack a Dry Eye Spray

One of the best travel companions for dry eye sufferers is a dry eye spray, like Optase artificial tear spray. Formulated with the same moisturizing preservative-free tears we are accostomed to experiencing with an Optase product. This dry eye spray is quick and easy to use. It's perfect for on the go use. Simply spray it directly onto your eyes for instan...

This winter has been anything but typical. Across the South, we've seen record temperatures and snowfall in places that rarely experience it. But for many of us, it’s not just the cold weather that’s affecting our eyes. The bigger problem is the indoor heat.

Why Does Indoor Heating Make Dry Eye Worse?

When temperatures drop, we naturally turn up the heat indoors. But heaters remove moisture from the air. And this creates a dry environment causing your eyes to sting, burn, and feel irritated. If you've noticed your dry eye symptoms worsening recently, your heating system might be the culprit.

Simple Ways to Keep Your Eyes Comfortable

 The good news? You don’t have to suffer through the season. Here are a few easy ways to combat dry indoor air and keep your eyes feeling their be...

Summer is a great time of the year to enjoy spending time with your friends and family outdoors. This can be especially challenging for dry eye sufferers since they often are sensitive to wind and sunlight. Let’s discuss three ways to protect your eyes this summer.  

#1) Protect Your Eyes 

Wearing your sunglasses to protect our eyes from UV rays is important any time of the year. Harmful UV rays have been linked to cataract creation and an increased risk of development of macular degeneration. In the summer, it is extra important to wear sunglasses because there are more hours of daylight. 

When you have dry eyes, your eyes tend to be more sensitive to light and to wind. I like to wear sunglasses whenever I'm outdoors year-round, but especially in the summertime. Make sure that your sun...

The eye care industry is constantly evolving. There is always research going on to make products better, more tolerable, and longer lasting. This past year, there were 3 new products that hit the market that can significantly affect your dry eye relief. Let's talk about three of the best dry eye products that came to market in 2022.

 #1) For your Eyes: Optase MGD Advanced Dry Eye Drop

Optase has been available in the US for a couple of years now. Their preservative-free Dry Eye Intense drop has been a favorite of mine for several years now.  However, in 2022, MGD Advanced came to the US market as well. 

MGD Advanced has three key ingredients:

1. Hyaluronic Acid: binds moisture to the front surface of our eye.
2. Trehalose: a naturally occurring compound that prevents drying out, or desicc
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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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One of the biggest complaints my dry eye patients talk to me about is redness.  Across the board, no matter their age or gender, patients hate having red eyes.  It's just embarrassing.  And, in truth, other people do notice when your eyes are red.  

Let's face it, the eyes are the windows to your soul.  And although rose colored glasses may give you a sunnier disposition, rose colored eyes do not.  There is no beauty in red eyes.  And, we don't like the story that red eyes tend to relate about activities we may have engaged in the night before.

Instead let's concentrate on how to make your dry eyes white again. This week especially, only a few days before Easter, you don't want to be mistaken for an Easter bunny.

Why are your eyes red when they're dry?

Well, dry eye is driven by inf...

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...