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...

I've been talking a lot about how Winter is a dry eye season.  There are many factors in your environment and also in your lifestyle that can be significantly affecting how your eyes feel this time of year.  

If you haven't been following along with this series about how to help your dry eyes feel more comfortable this time of year, you can catch up with these blogs: self-care, indoor adjustments, and outdoor adjustments.   

1) Diet

Now let's talk about your diet this time of year, especially with the holidays, you probably ate all sorts of things that aren't part of your normal diet. There's usually lots of potlucks and people bringing in little treats from home this time of year.

When you're at the office, you may be eating too much sugar, wheat, dairy, alcohol, and caffeine. Just ...

In this interview, I review the 4 Steps of Simple Dry Eye treatment plan and the importance of having a treatment plan that addresses the symptoms of your dry eyes.

Let me do a quick review for you here.

Step One: Hydrate - Use an artificial tear to give the front surface of the eye the moisture it needs to keep the eye healthy.

Step two: Harmonize - Using a cleanser for the lids and lashes on a daily basis will keep the bacteria living there in check.  Over population of bacteria will lead to redness and irritation.

Step three: Heat - A warm compress will help to melt the oils trapped in the oil glans lining the lid margins.  Once thee oil is able to flow freely out of the glands, the oil will coat the watery portion of the tears and prevent it from evaporating.

Step four: Heal - Ome...