July a very special month for us- it’s national dry eye awareness month! If you know us, you know how passionate we are about treating dry eye disease (DED). It has been estimated that 30 million Americans have symptoms of DED, but only half of them have been diagnosed and a very small percentage is actually treated properly. What’s up with that? Well, this is a tricky condition. It can mimic other conditions, and sometimes present with no symptoms at all in the early stages. Here are some of the symptoms of dry eye:
- Burning
- Redness
- Irritation and grittiness
- Foreign body sensation (like sand in eyes)
- Excessive tearing
- Contact lens intolerance
- Fluctuation in vision
- Poor night vision
- Light sensitivity
- Fatigued eyes
For years, the only treatment option for patients with dry eye disease were artificial tears. We now know that artificial tears only work temporarily at relieving the symptom. They don’t actually treat the problem. Our goal is to determine the cause of dry eye for each patient and treat the root cause, not just the symptoms. When the root cause is addressed, patients often times have no need to use artificial tears.
We are dedicated to constantly learning about dry eye disease, offering the newest research and evidence-based treatment options. There is nothing more satisfying than hearing our patients say ‘This is the best my eyes have felt in years!’ Ans this is why we are passionate about treating dry eye.