Is it something I'm doing that's making my eyes dry? 

This is something my patients ask me about every day. Is it something I'm doing that's causing my eyes to be dry?  Well, unfortunately there's something we're all doing that's causing our eyes to be dry.  Right now here in Shreveport, Louisiana it's late summer.   That means that the weather is hot, and there's lots of pollen in the air.

Environment

Sometimes, it is a factor of your surroundings that are causing your eyes to be dry.  One factor to consider is the current season of the year.  Summer tends to have more moisture in the air than winter, but having the air conditioners on full blast and pollen in the air is going to irritate your dry eyes. 

In the winter, heaters and freezing temperatures tend to dry the air both indoo...

My patients ask me that all the time, "How can I get dry eye relief that lasts?" The answer is that you need a holistic treatment plan. 

What is a holistic treatment plan?  Let's start with an example we can relate to.  Let's talk about Barbara wanting to lose weight.  She decided to join a gym and committed herself to go to the gym every day, but since she was being so good about going to the gym, she also decided she didn't need to change what or when she was eating. 

For a whole month, Barbara went to the gym every day.  And, she continued eating as she normally had.  When she stepped onto the scale at the end of the month, she found that she had gained weight.  During this month, she had improved her cardiovascular health, improved her breathing, and her stamina.  She had even put on...

Why would you need more than one type of artificial tear?  My patients often ask me this after I prescribed them two different artificial tears. I believe that the best treatment plan for your eyes is one that's customized to your lifestyle.  And, there are six different types of artificial tears on the market. If you don't know about the six different types, you can check out this blog and learn the pros and cons of the different types of tears.

Why More than One Tear?

I like to recommend one type of tear for my patients to use during the day and then a second one for them to use at bedtime.  During the day, you're going to need to refresh the front surface of your eye and keep it hydrated with an artificial tear that won't blur your vision.  This is just to hydrate and moisturize the e...

Dry eyes have changed a lot during the pandemic. There are 3 things that have caused dry eye symptoms to worsen for patients who already have it.  Let's explore what has made dry eye worse during the COVID-19 pandemic and what we can do to counter it!

 #1) Masks

Everyone is wearing a mask for some part of the day.  You're breathing and some of this air is going up into your eyes.  All-day long, or as long as you have your mask on, the air is being directed upwards from your nose or mouth into your eyes.  A lot of my patients complain about their eyes feeling drier now than they had before.

In addition, we are avoiding touching our eyes and faces, so you may not be putting artificial tears into your eyes as often as you would like.  Especially, if you are out and about, you may not be u...