January is Glaucoma Awareness Month

I want to take some time to discuss how glaucoma and dry eye are related.  You probably already know what dry eye is. You know that it's an irritation of the front surface of the eye that can cause your eyes to be red, gritty, and irritated.

What is glaucoma?

Glaucoma is often referred to as the "silent thief of vision".  It is a disease that causes you to lose your peripheral vision.   It generally happens very slowly over a long period of time,  This loss of vision is caused by an increase in the pressure inside the eye.  The increase in pressure is usually not enough to cause pain. 

There are very few symptoms that indicate to a patient that they are suffering from glaucoma.  It can go on for years undetected by the person suffering from it until...

When you have dry eye disease your eyes are very sensitive.  You may find that anything you add to them stings, burns, irritates or otherwise makes them worse.  Preservatives can be especially irritating to your eyes and over time the buildup of preservatives can cause increased redness and irritation.   

The top things eye care practitioners advise to avoid these preservatives are preservative-free drops and daily disposable contact lenses.  Here, I will cover why this is great advice, other contact lens options, and what we can do to reduce our waste products by using these types of disposable products.  

Why preservative-free? 

Preservatives are used in bottled artificial tears, medicated drops, and contact lens cleaners to prevent bacteria from growing in the bottle.  Preservatives ...