What Is Dry Eye?
Dry eye occurs when your eyes don’t make enough tears or when the quality of your tears changes. Dry eye can prevent you from enjoying the activities you love and the symptoms can be quite uncomfortable.
Dry eye screening is part of all our comprehensive eye exams. If you’re experiencing dry eye, we’ll develop a personalized treatment plan specific to your needs. We’re committed to improving your comfort, so we’ll follow up with you regularly to make sure your symptoms are improving.From eye drops to exclusive, in-office treatments, our team is here to support your dry eye needs. Book an appointment with us today.
About Dry Eye
Take Our Dry Eye Quiz!
Experiencing redness or burning eye sensations? Rubbing your eyes a lot? Wondering if it could be dry eye? Take our quiz to learn more.
Common Causes of Dry Eye
Dry eye affects 16 million Americans every year. In some cases, dry eye can also cause vision problems. The most common causes of dry eye include:
- Age-related changes to the eyes
- SIde effects from medications
- Poorly fitted contact lenses
- Conditions like blepharitis and meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD)
- Health issues like rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren’s syndrome, thyroid disease, and lupus
- Laser eye surgery (Dry eye can be a common early side effect of laser eye surgery, but if symptoms persist, please contact us.)
Being exposed to dry air, wind, smoke, or air conditioning can also worsen dry eye symptoms.
Common Symptoms of Dry Eye
Everyone’s experience with dry eye can be a little different, and the effects can come and go over time. Some of the common symptoms include:
- Eye irritation
- Watering
- Redness
- Blurry vision
- Sensitivity to light
- Stringy mucus or discharge
- A burning, stinging, or gritty sensation
Some of these symptoms can also be caused by other eye conditions, so it’s important to visit us for a checkup when they affect you. Getting a clear diagnosis is the first step to correctly addressing issues that affect your eyes.
How Do Hazleton Eye Specialists Diagnose Dry Eye?
We use modern technology to help us diagnose our patients with dry eye. After our diagnosis, we’ll develop a personalized treatment plan to help you manage your dry eye symptoms.
We’ll also schedule follow up appointments to check on your eyes and determine whether your symptoms are improving.
Meibography allows us to take images of your meibomian glands—which play an important role in maintaining a healthy tear film. They are located on both the upper and lower eyelids.
Through the photos we take, we’ll be able to see the structure, size, and shape of your glands. If any are missing or atrophied, that could be a sign of meibomian gland dysfunction, and the cause of your dry eye symptoms.
Dyes and staining help us analyze your tears in close detail and assess the stability of your tear film. They let us see details that would otherwise be difficult to spot with the naked eye.
A TBUT test allows us to determine how long tears last on your eyes after you blink. We’ll place a small amount of dye in your eyes and have you blink until the dye covers the entirety of your eye. Assessing how long the dye remains visible helps us assess the stability of your tear film.
A Schirmer’s test allows us to check if your eyes are making enough tears. After numbing your eye with eye drops, we’ll place a small piece of paper at the edge of your eyelid. After 5 minutes with your eyes closed, we’ll be able to see how many tears you make based on the moisture of the paper.
TearLab allows us to measure the concentration of salt in your tears. After collecting a small sample of your tears, the TearLab device will take a measurement. If your tears are too salty, you may be producing low-quality tears, leading to discomfort and dry eye.
InflammaDry is a piece of modern technology that tests for inflammation in your tear glands. A sample of your tears is taken from inside your lower eyelid and tested. If inflammation is detected, we’ll come up with a personalized treatment plan to help manage the cause of your dry eye symptoms.
Our Treatments for Dry Eye
We offer a variety of treatments for dry eyes—both the symptoms and underlying causes. Addressing your symptoms at the root is important to us. When we prepare your treatment plan, we’ll recommend treatments not only to help you see comfortably again, but also to help you avoid future flare ups.
The treatments we recommend will vary based on the underlying cause of your symptoms, their severity, and your lifestyle.
A punctal plug is a tiny device—the size of a grain of rice— that is inserted into the tear duct. This procedure can help keep your eyes hydrated by stopping tears from draining out of your eye too quickly.
IPL can help manage the symptoms of inflammation and meibomian gland dysfunction. By pulsing light onto your eyelids, we can help break down and melt away blockages in your meibomian glands that may affect the oil layer of your tear film.
LipiFlow uses heat pulsations to break down and melt away blockages in your meibomian glands. The heat can help manage the symptoms of meibomian gland dysfunction and provide lasting dry eye relief.
Like LipiFlow, MiboFlow uses heat to melt blockages in the meibomian glands. However, instead of pulsations, it uses constant heat to dissolve the blockages. We recommend multiple treatments with this device to help manage dry eye symptoms.
The NuVissa pen can be used to treat meibomian gland dysfunction. Using a specific tip on the NuVissa plasma pen, we can break down blockages in the meibomian glands. We may recommend multiple treatments with this device to help manage dry eye symptoms.
For this treatment, gentle pressure is applied to the base of your meibomian glands. We’ll direct you to look away from the area that is being expressed and repeat the procedure until all your glands on both your upper and lower eyelids have been treated.
Meibomian gland probing is a technique that’s used to open scarred meibomian glands. After applying local anesthesia, the scarred meibomian glands are poked, releasing their contents. This treatment generally has minimal downtime.
Eyelid debridement is used to treat blocked meibomian glands. After placing numbing eye drops in your eyes, we’ll use a device to help clean debris from the edge of your eyelid.
Supplementing with omega-3s can help some people manage dry eye symptoms. These essential fatty acids can help reduce inflammation and improve the quality of your tear film.
There are many different types of eye drops, so we recommend you book an appointment with us before making a purchase. We can recommend the right type for your symptoms, eyes, and lifestyle.
Eyelid sprays can help patients with symptoms of dry eye by hydrating the tear film with a mixture of oils. We recommend you book an appointment with us before making a purchase. We can provide proper guidance on using these sprays and recommend the right type for your needs.
Schedule an Appointment
If you’re experiencing symptoms of dry eye, we can help you find relief. Book an appointment with us today. Let’s find the right treatment for your eyes.
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Our Eyecare Services
Say Goodbye to
Dry Eyes
Dry, sensitive, and irritated eyes can significantly impact your daily life. We understand the frustration and discomfort chronic dry eyes can cause. That’s why we offer a comprehensive dry eye treatment program designed to help alleviate symptoms and restore comfort to your vision.
Once we understand the root cause of your dry eyes, we can develop a personalized treatment plan tailored to your specific needs. Through treatments like IPL, LipiFlow, and MiboFlo, we can help you find relief.
Learn more about our dry eye services and how we can address your symptoms.
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Hazleton
Eye Specialists
- Phone: 570-453-2020
- Fax: 570-453-1020
- Email: [email protected]
- 281 Airport Road
- Hazle Township, PA 18202
Hours of Operation
Stroudsburg
Eye Specialists
- Phone: 570-421-3342
- Fax: 570-421-8490
- Email: [email protected]
- 2942 Route 611, Suite 5
- Tannersville, PA 18372
Hours of Operation
Pottsville
Eye Specialists
- Phone: 570-628-3937
- Email: [email protected]
- 541 West Bacon Street
- Pottsville, PA 17901
Hours of Operation
Nanticoke
Eye Specialists
- Phone: 570-735-6000
- Fax: 570-735-5300
- Email: [email protected]
- 245 S. Prospect St.
- Nanticoke, PA 18634
Hours of Operation
Bangor
Eye Specialists
- Phone: 610-588-0129
- Email: [email protected]
- 385 Bangor Junction Rd.
- Bangor, PA 18013
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Hazleton Eye Specialists
- 281 Airport Road
- Hazle Township, PA 18202
- 570-453-2020
- 570-453-1020
- [email protected]
Stroudsburg Eye Specialists
- 2942 Route 611, Suite 5
- Tannersville, PA 18372
- 570-421-3342
- 570-421-8490
- [email protected]
Pottsville Eye Specialists
- 541 West Bacon Street
- Pottsville, PA 17901
Nanticoke Eye Specialists
- 245 S. Prospect St.
- Nanticoke, PA 18634
- 570-735-6000
- 570-735-5300
- [email protected]