Whitby, ON
(905) 728-7017
844-292-1216
Whitby, ON
(905) 728-7017
Dry eye symptoms are not just uncomfortable; they can actually cause long term damage if your eyes don’t receive proper treatment. Almost one-third of all Canadians currently suffer from dry eye. At Whitby Family Eye Care we not only treat the symptoms of your dry eye, but we also get the source of the problem so that we can offer you a customized solution to meet your dry eye needs.
Dry eye syndrome is a serious issue which develops for one of two reasons: insufficient tear volume or poor tear quality.
Tears provide your eyes with protection, lubrication, and hydration, while also keeping them clean and free of dust and debris. Your eyes need a certain volume of tears to work properly and comfortably. If your tear glands don’t produce enough tears, your eyes will start to feel dry and irritated.
Our tears are made up of three components: water, an oily substance called meibum, and mucin. Meibum, which is produced by the meibomian glands in the eyelids, makes a film on the surface of your tears to keep them from evaporating too quickly, and mucin helps spread our tears evenly across the surface of the eye. If your tears don’t contain enough mucin or meibum, they can’t keep your eyes adequately lubricated, leading to dry eye. Most cases of dry eyes are due to poor tear quality.
Dry eyes can also be caused or exacerbated by a variety of external factors including:
There are a wide variety of symptoms that may indicate that you are suffering from dry eye. These include:
Though it may seem strange, watery eyes can actually be a symptom of dry eye. If poor quality tears are the cause of your dry eye, your eyes may try to compensate by producing excess tears, causing your eyes to water.
If these symptoms sound familiar, request an appointment with us today.
Dry eye may seem like an innocuous problem, but chronic dry eye is a progressive condition that will get worse over time if left untreated. At Whitby Family Eye Care, we aren’t satisfied with just treating your symptoms; we want to address the underlying problem to help you find long-term relief.
To help us determine the root cause of your dry eye, we use a variety of specialized equipment including the iPen to access tear quality, and Meibox to assess the health of your meibomian glands. Meibox is a state of the art piece of diagnostic imaging technology that allows the optometrists at Whitby Family Eye Care to take high definition images of your meibomian glands.
The right diagnosis empowers us to help find the right treatment for you.
Once we understand the underlying cause of your symptoms, we can craft a tailored treatment plan that meets your eye relief needs. Though ordinary, over the counter eye drops can offer temporary relief medicated eye drops, such as Restasis and Xiidra, can help your eyes produce better quality tears naturally. Depending on the cause of your dry eye your optometrist may prescribe medicated eye drops for your dry eye.
Professional treatment products such as Thealoz Duo eye drops, Hyabak eye drops, Bruder Mask, and Blephaclean (sterilized eye cleansing pads) and in-office treatments, can help manage the underlying causes of your dry eye and are available at Whitby Family Eye Care.
Whitby Family Eye Care is at the north east corner of Thickson Rd & Hwy 2, in the KFC plaza.
| Our doors are locked, but we remain open by appointment only. Please note our office hours will change due to the current job action.: |
