It's hard to believe, but if our math is correct the magnificent Dry Eye medicine Restasis is going to be 10 years old this year! It's hard to imagine any more how terribly difficult it was to treat severe forms of dry eye before the introduction of Restasis.
Dry Eye takes many forms, has multiple causes, and produces many different types of symptoms. Restasis has turned out to be a brilliant treatment for the inflammation that underlies a common cause of Dry Eye, not producing enough tears. Whether the inflammation comes first and causes the dryness or vice versa, a vicious cycle begins where one cause the other. Chronic Restasis use unwinds this vicious cycle and revs up a virtuous cycle.
Dr. White at the Dr. Whiteboard - Video
At Skyvision Centers we have taught our Cleveland patients for years that if Restasis is effective one must continue to take it in order to feel well. Thankfully, once it starts to work Restasis is a really easy eyedrop to use. Deciding what type of Dry Eye you might have and then determining what the best treatment will be is one of our strengths!
As an accredited Dry Eye center, SkyVision will help you to determine the best treatment for your Dry Eye symptoms.
Showing posts with label The Dr Whiteboard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Dr Whiteboard. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
How Do We Diagnose Dry Eye?
So you've come to Skyvision Centers with red, burning or tearing eyes. Your vision gets blurry when you look at a computer. You always feels like there's something in your eyes. How do we know it's from Dry Eye? How do we make the diagnosis?
Well, the very first thing we do is LISTEN to you! We try very hard to hear what it is that's bothering you. After that there are several tests that the technicians and doctors do to evaluate your tears, like examining your tears themselves. Both the doctors and the technicians look at your tears. Do you have a normal amount present just on viewing? Are they clear? Is there any debris, stuff like mucous or clumps of white blood cells present?
Before we put anything into your eyes we will often use a special instrument called an osmometer to check your tear OSMOLARITY, how salty your tears are. This is a very new, fully FDA approved test to evaluate whether you have a normal amount of salt in your tears. Normal is below 300 and abnormal is above 308, with the 300-308 range being relatively non-diagnostic. This test is very helpful in determining whether or not you have the most common type of Dry Eye, especially when other signs are hard to see.
The doctor will then put a vegetable-base dye called FLUORESCEIN into your tears to evaluate their function. How long does it take before they "break up"? Tears should remain smooth over the front of the eye for at least 8-10 seconds. Does any part of the front of the eye become stained by the flourescein? Dye staining is a sign that your tears do not work well enough. Finally, tiny strips of filter paper may be placed just inside your eyelids for a test of your tear production called a SCHIRMER test. This helps us know the volume of tear production.
That's how we do it! Lots of work to make the diagnosis, but heck...you're worth it! Look for more information on how we TREAT Dry Eye.
For even more information about Dry Eye, visit our YouTube channel Skyvisioncenters105 for many Dry Eye videos by our very own Dr. Darrell White at The Dr. Whiteboard.
Well, the very first thing we do is LISTEN to you! We try very hard to hear what it is that's bothering you. After that there are several tests that the technicians and doctors do to evaluate your tears, like examining your tears themselves. Both the doctors and the technicians look at your tears. Do you have a normal amount present just on viewing? Are they clear? Is there any debris, stuff like mucous or clumps of white blood cells present?
Before we put anything into your eyes we will often use a special instrument called an osmometer to check your tear OSMOLARITY, how salty your tears are. This is a very new, fully FDA approved test to evaluate whether you have a normal amount of salt in your tears. Normal is below 300 and abnormal is above 308, with the 300-308 range being relatively non-diagnostic. This test is very helpful in determining whether or not you have the most common type of Dry Eye, especially when other signs are hard to see.
The doctor will then put a vegetable-base dye called FLUORESCEIN into your tears to evaluate their function. How long does it take before they "break up"? Tears should remain smooth over the front of the eye for at least 8-10 seconds. Does any part of the front of the eye become stained by the flourescein? Dye staining is a sign that your tears do not work well enough. Finally, tiny strips of filter paper may be placed just inside your eyelids for a test of your tear production called a SCHIRMER test. This helps us know the volume of tear production.
That's how we do it! Lots of work to make the diagnosis, but heck...you're worth it! Look for more information on how we TREAT Dry Eye.
For even more information about Dry Eye, visit our YouTube channel Skyvisioncenters105 for many Dry Eye videos by our very own Dr. Darrell White at The Dr. Whiteboard.
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