How can you tell if I have dry eye disease?

A complete eye exam and appropriate testing is important to diagnose the cause of your dry eye syndrome.  Once we have determined the cause, we can treat it more effectively.

Simple things you can do include environmental monitoring, basic eye care, using supplemental tear drops and taking oral fish oil (see below).

Environmental monitoring includes not pointing the vent at your face in the car and giving your eyes a break after concentrated activities like reading or computer use every 20-30 minutes.  Basic eye care means taking off your makeup every night.  Dr. Pradhan can recommend additional and specific treatment of your dry eyes after a complete exam.

Specialty Services:

We have objective methods of determining your dry eye disease, if indicated, including

• Schirmer’s basal tear production
• TBUT – Tear Break-Up Time
• Corneal staining on slit lamp examination
• Lipiscan for meibomian gland disease
• Omega-3 Index by Omega Quant
• Sjogren’s and Vitamin A deficiency Lab tests

Some doctors may use the Tear osmolarity test by TearLab (abnormal being >/ 308 mOsm/L or an intereye difference of >/ 8 mOsm/L), Dr. Pradhan does not offer this anymore as it was not found to be as useful.