Dry eye is an uncomfortable eye condition which afflicts swathes of the population all year long, though it has no single fixed cause or trigger, making it difficult to self-diagnose. Our dry eye clinic is designed to give you the most comprehensive exam possible, helping us deliver an exact and accurate diagnosis from which we can recommend treatment options and solutions.
Dry eye is the physical discomfort felt in and around the eye when it is poorly lubricated.
They are many and varied. It can be due to arid weather conditions, environmental allergies or the air-intake system for your office. Other potential causes include:
The first thing we’ll do is conduct a comprehensive eye exam to properly diagnose the severity of the condition. This, along with a detailed discussion about your habits and day-to-day activities, will enable our optometrists to recommend a treatment plan.
There several highly effective treatments for dry eye that can be performed both in the office and at home. However, there is no one treatment that will work for everyone with dry eyes. Knowing the cause and the severity of a person’s dry eye will guide us in a correct and effective treatment plan.
The Eye Care Team is one of only a few places in Spokane that offer LipiFlow treatments for patients with meibomian gland dysfunction. Which is a condition that is found in 86% of people who suffer from dry eyes.
Anyone who may be suffering from the condition will be invited in for a dry eye evaluation. The first thing we do is use a TearLab instrument to the tear film osmolarity as high osmolality directly correlates with dry eye. A thorough investigation of your meibomian glands is conducted using LipiView, an advanced imaging device.
We can identify excessive inflammation in the tear film using an InflammaDry tool. Further assessments include how well your meibomian glands are secreting their oil (essential for lubricating the eye) and analysis of your eyelids to help identify the exact type of dry eye a person might have.
We are one of three optometry practices in Spokane utilizing the above state-of-the-art equipment.
We can even asses for nocturnal lagophthalmos (aka sleeping with your eyes open), which you certainly can’t know for sure on your own! All in all, our exams take under and hour and are usually very comfortable.