How is Dry Eye Syndrome Diagnosed?

Your Eye Care professional can perform some simple in-office diagnostic tests to evaluate the quality and quantity of your tears. General health, medications and environmental factors will be a consideration in diagnosing Dry Eye. Please complete your Dry Eye-Q Test and take the results with you to your Eye Care Professional on your next visit.

How is Dry Eye Syndrome Treated?

Depending on the causes, Dry Eye Syndrome can be treated as a temporary problem or a lifelong disease requiring long-term treatment. Either way, tears must be conserved or replaced in order to provide relief.

  Replacing the Tears:

Artificial tears are probably the most common forms of treatment for Dry Eye Syndrome. These will provide temporary relief, but with prolonged use, artificial tears can actually disrupt the eye’s natural production of tears and lead to further aggravation of the condition, washing away the natural infection fighting tear film on the eye.

Conserving the Tears: In cases of persistent Dry Eye symptoms, permanent, reversible closure of the tear duct or punctal occlusion, may be the best solution. Punctal occlusion allows you to retain your own, natural tears without the bother or expense of constantly replacing the tear film with artificial tears.
How Can Punctal Occlusion Help Me Keep My Natural Tears? Punctal occlusion acts very much like a stopper in a sink. When the punctal opening is closed, tears stay on the eye longer. There are three basic methods of tear duct closure: Cautery - Reversible? No. Lasers - Reversible? No. Punctum Plugs - Reversible? Yes!

What are Punctum Plugs?

Punctum Plugs are the least invasive of the long-term solutions to Dry Eye Syndrome. A small, soft silicone plug, about the size of a sesame seed, is non-surgically inserted into the natural punctal opening. The entire procedure can be performed in your Eye Care Professional’s office within a few minutes. Many patients report immediate relief from Dry Eye symptoms. Although silicone plugs are considered a permanent treatment for Dry Eye, your doctor can easily monitor and remove them if necessary.

What Should I Do?

Since extreme dryness can cause serious damage to the eye, an examination and diagnosis by your Eye Care Professional is recommended.