Vision is an extremely elegant and complex sense that requires the coordination of prescription, general eye health, and a significant amount of brain input. There are many ways to fix our prescription, as detailed on this website, but there are many things that influence our vision that is not so easily fixed or take a significant amount of work from patients themselves, including dry eye treatments and managing eyelid health.
Beyond Prescription Corrections
Prescription correcting surgeries such as laser correction and lens implants can and do make a dramatic improvement in life quality for over a million Americans every year but it's important to understand how other eye issues can affect vision.
Dry Eye | Red Eyes | Lid Health
Hundreds of different things may cause red, irritated eyes, but the most common is eye dryness from our lifestyles (heavy screen use, decreased blinking) and lack of eyelid care. Imagine never washing your hair - your scalp would be very irritated and inflamed. Now imagine that tissue rubbing over your eye thousands of times every single day for years.
Having dry, irritated eyes can affect the comfort, vision, and accuracy of any procedure. See below for tips on how to optimize eye surface and comfort.
Phone, Computer or TV Use
Take a 20 sec break, look away 20 feet every 20 minutes, and close your lids completely two times (AKA 20/20/20/2 rule)
Lid and Lash Care
Clean lids every morning and evening by closing your eyes, gently scrubbing the base of lids with Ocusoft foaming lid wash, and rinsing off
Unclog Oil Glands
Use a hot towel or heated eye mask compresses to heat and loosen the natural oil glands of the eyelids for 5-10 minutes each day. Hot but not burning
*This is also the best way to treat styes
Lotion for Your Eyes
Supplement your tears with artificial tears or lubricating gels and ointments (use preservative-free if over 4x/day)