Valentine’s Day is all about love. Let's show our eyes some love too. Our vision allows us to experience life’s most beautiful moments, yet we often overlook the daily care our eyes need to stay healthy and clear. This year, instead of just focusing on chocolates and roses, let’s give our eyes a gift that will keep them working well for a lifetime.

I always remind my patients that a few simple habits can make a world of difference in maintaining eye health. I call these Eye Care Essentials, a four-step routine that takes just minutes a day but offers lasting benefits.

1. Hydrate: Refresh with Preservative-Free Artificial Tears

Just like our skin needs moisture, our eyes need hydration too. Using a preservative-free artificial tear helps refresh the front surface of the eye without expos...

Spring brings a burst of colors and fragrances, but for many, it also marks the onset of ocular allergy symptoms. Itchy, watery eyes and incessant sneezing can make enjoying the season a challenge. However, with a few proactive steps, you can alleviate these symptoms and embrace the beauty of spring with clarity and comfort.

How do you know if it's an allergy?

There are a couple of symptoms that are the same between dry eyes and allergies so it can be hard to distinguish between the two problems. However, timing seems to play a big part in ocular allergies. If you suddenly notice the symptoms below, it's most likely to be allergy. 

• redness
• watering
• Itching - this is the hallmark sign of allergy
• Eyelid swelling
• Mucus or stringy discharge
• Topical antihistamine eye drops improve sym
...

Happy Holidays!  I hope this is a great time of year for you.  I understand how hectic gift giving and shopping can be.  I want to make it easier for you to choose gifts that you know your friends will love, but also that will be healthy for their eyes.

Today we're going to talk about giving gifts and giving the gift of good vision.  This is what I talk about all day every day, so I'm so glad you're here to listen. We are going to talk about what you would love to give your mother, your sister, your best friend that would be super special, awesome, and help their dry eyes.

I want everyone with dry eyes to feel that they're comfortable and that they can be soothed and you can pamper them, I've got some really great gifts that'll help you to pamper not only your loved one, but also your pe...

I want to talk to you about a very important topic.  It's called "Falling Off the Wagon".  Surely, it's happened to all of us. We've all fallen off the wagon from doing something from time to time. 

Whether we're talking about treating our dry eye, being on a diet, or even making our bed in the morning, we've all stopped doing something even though we know it is in our best interest to keep doing it.  Sometimes, we just want to eat the Oreos.  We know that we shouldn't, but we do it anyway. 

The Down Fall:

Maybe you've been doing great with you dry eye treatment.  Your eyes feel so great  that you stopped doing it.  Maybe you stopped for a couple of days, and your eyes didn't feel bad.  Nothing really bad happened.  You start thinking to yourself:

• Do I really need to do my lid scrubs
...

I want to talk to you about a simple hack to help you stay on track with your dry eye treatment. It's called habit stacking.  If you haven't heard of habit stacking, I'm going to explain it here.  And, I'll even tell you why it's the best way, I think, to incorporate your dry eye treatment into your daily life.

First, let me tell you a little story.  Many years ago, when I was pregnant with my second child, I had something called "Gingivitis of Pregnancy". It was awful. Every time I brushed my teeth, my gums would bleed.  Just the lightest scrub, and I would have a bloody mouth. It was so awful.

I went to dentist to ask what to do.  I was distraught.  My gums were bleeding all the time.  I could just touch them, and they would start bleeding.  My dentist said, I had to start flossing...

Demodex mites.  This is a tricky topic to bring up with my patients.  The truth of the matter is that with age, we all have some Demodex mites living on our eyelashes.  For some reason (science still isn't sure why) these mites are normal to have on our lashes.

Yet, this topic always gives my patients the heebie-geebies.  I want to reassure you all that having them on your lids doesn't mean you are an unclean person.

And, going overboard trying to rid them from your eyes can cause more problems than just the irritation of having them.  So, slow down.  Don't freak out.  Let's discuss these Demodex mites....

What are Demodex Mites?

Demodex is a small mite that buries itself into the follicles of the eyelashes and eyebrows.  This mite is in the same family as the mite that causes man...