Dry Eye Center
Ocular Surface Disease (Dry Eye and /or Blepharitis) has become a common condition in today’s world. There are several causes-including using a computer, tablet, or phone screen. Ocular Surface Disease (OSD) can make your eyes feel dry, gritty, tired, burn, and cause visual fluctuations. Many times OSD is not diagnosed because the symptoms were not relayed to the doctor (the patient accepts ocular discomfort as normal) or the doctor does not take the time to tailor a treatment for the patient. We at the Danville Eye Center believe that diagnosing and treating OSD can greatly enhance your quality of life, especially while working. Also, contact lens wearers who experience discomfort or have dropped out of contact lenses due to discomfort can usually reduce their level of discomfort and resume all-day contact lens wear with the appropriate treatment and lens materials.
At the Danville Eye Center, we use the latest technology to determine the cause and severity of your OSD and then create an action plan specifically for you, because everyone is different. There is no one treatment for OSD that will help everyone. OSD is caused by several different factors and by using the appropriate tools a proper diagnosis can be made.
Some things we do at Danville Eye Center for OSD include:
- Taking samples of your tears to determine the chemistry. This is important because it tells us if there are certain markers that indicate inflammation and also the osmolarity of your tears to determine the severity.
- Using vital stains to assess the level of corneal involvement.
- Expression of the eyelid glands (painless) to determine the tear integrity.
- Evaluate the eyelid anatomy to determine if this is contributing.
- Create a one-of-a-kind plan for you based on the cause and severity of the condition.
- For some we use special in-office procedures to boost comfort and fast-track treatment. These include the Blephex procedure: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/vrwjjwwszh2od8y/AABejgwNim7miTclOykh6DTBa/Videos?dl=0&preview=BlephEx+%28English+CC%29.mov
And Meibomian Gland Expression:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RinkMHGIKO4
Once a plan is put into place, symptoms will improve, but for most the treatments need to become a part of their lifestyle to maintain ocular comfort. A maintenance plan is just as important as the initial plan to maintain healthy, comfortable eyelids for life.
Make sure you discuss any symptoms you are having with your doctor so a plan can be put into place. If you are having any of these symptoms give us a call at (859) 236-8644.