I am often asked whether or not a patient's eyes are too dry for contact lens wear.  Sometimes the answer is yes, but this is rarer than you might think.

There have been so many advancements in contact lens technology in the past decade that lenses have become more and more comfortable.  And, more powers of prescriptions are available in contact lens form.  Often, I can fit most patients (even those with dry eyes) in a contact lens for part-time wear.

Contact lenses offer a great way to correct vision.  In some cases, people see better with their contact lenses than they do their glasses.  This is often the case in people with high prescriptions.  Glasses will often restrict a patient's peripheral vision when the lenses are very thick or have a lot of astigmatism.  

 Daily Disposa...

The holidays are upon us.  For some of us, this news feels us with happiness and joy.  For others, it fills us with stress and anxiety.   I hate to admit to you that I am definitely the latter of these two types of people.  It is not that I don't like Christmas.  I love the decorations, parties, food, and gatherings.  I just have stress about the gift-giving.  #truth

Let's face it, there are some people in our lives that are hard to give to.  And, I'm sure you have more people on your list each year.  The growth of my list always seems exponential.  How does that happen?

Let me present to you the 2019 Gift Giving Guide.  You will find something on it for everyone.  Even if you don't think that your friends and family have dry eyes, we all need to take care of our eyes.  Take care of your...

No. 1)  Contact lenses are not costumes

This past week, I got an up-close and personal reminder of how painful inflammation can be.  I was out on my morning run.  It is by far my exercise of choice for getting the blood flowing and clearing my mind.  

Well, I must not have been thinking about my feet because all of a sudden I was face down on the asphalt.  Ugh.  I rolled on to my back and saw stars all at the same time.  I am a true believer in the discomfort of inflammation.

Do you remember last week when we went over the 4 steps to alleviate your dry eye symptoms?  They are hydrate, harmonize, heat, and heal,  If you want to go back and review that blog again, just click here.

The fourth step - heal has to do with reducing inflammation.  I suggest taking an omega fatty acid supplement called HydroEye by ScienceBased health....

My patients will sometimes tell me that they can’t wear contact lenses because their eyes are too dry.  There have been tons of innovations in both contact lenses and contact lens care in recent years.  For the most part, the idea that you can't wear contact lenses when you have dry eyes is a myth.  

Sometimes, not being able to wear contact lenses will be a short period of time while you are undergoing dry eye treatment is true for a short while.  But, my goal is always to find a way to get my patients back into contact lenses or have some kind of refractive surgery, if they are a good candidate - read this blog here.  Some patients do need to take breaks from their contact lenses because of years of abuse they have put their eyes through.  These are the three worst things patients can d...

It’s summertime! We are all glad to be out in the sunshine and enjoying ourselves outdoors. Many patients tell me they would like to wear their contact lenses more in the summer so they can wear their sunglasses.  Also, since most climates are a little less dry in the summer, dry eye sufferers find they can tolerate their contact lenses better this time of year. 

With wearing your contact lenses more of the time, there are a few things to keep in mind.  We will go over: the golden rule, the best cleaner to use for your contact lenses, and how to clean your lenses properly.   

The Golden Rule 

Since you are wearing your contact lenses more often in the summer it is important to remember the Golden Rule about contact lenses.  If you have read my book, Alleviate Dry Eye, you know there is ...

My patients often ask me why their eyes are so dry.  They feel like the symptoms may have come on suddenly, but the truth is that it was more likely to be a lot of little things that added up over a long period of time. 

Our bodies are very complex organisms. They have tasks that are being done all day long without us even thinking about it.  In our eyes, the tear film needs to be replenished constantly.  This means that you are continuously producing tears, and they are flowing out of your eyes all day long.

However, there are many reasons why your body will slow the production of the tears it needs.  In my book, Alleviate Dry Eye, Chapter 1 reviews the reasons for not producing enough tears extensively.  If you haven’t done so yet, you can get your copy here.   

There are several mai...

What! Dr. T, what are you talking about now? I know you must think I’m crazy (or maybe that I’ve just move back to Syracuse), but today I’d like to talk about snowballs. I’m not speaking of the fluffy white snow packed into a perfect round ball kind of snowballed though. I’m talking about small events that happened one after another that add up to something bigger. 

Several years ago, my husband learned about Dave Ramsey. Dave Ramsey teaches financial peace. He has a radio show, books and courses all about getting people out of debt and achieving financial peace.  One of his methods is something he calls the debt snowball. 

Debt snowball in a nut shell: 

1) Line up all of your debts from smallest amount to largest amount 

2) Pay the minimum payment to each item, except for the smallest...