Dry Eye Treatment | St. Thomas, ON

Find Lasting Relief from Dry Eye

Have you felt the stinging, gritty, and uncomfortable sensation of dry eye? You’re not alone—millions of Canadians live with the irritation of dry eye. Whether it’s the dry air of winter or the constant breeze from a fan in the summer, the discomfort can seem endless.

Our team understands how disruptive dry eye symptoms can be and is experienced in diagnosing and treating dry eye disease. We offer a variety of treatments such as IPL therapy, LipiFlow, radiofrequency treatment, and more to help you feel better.

We focus on personalized care to get to the root cause of your dry eye. Contact us to schedule your eye exam today and address your dry eye symptoms.

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What Is Dry Eye Disease?

Dry eye disease happens when your eyes don’t produce enough tears or the tears they produce are of poor quality. This leads to irritation, redness, and discomfort.

In some cases, dry eye can even cause watery eyes as a reaction to the irritation. This condition affects many people, and its severity can range from mild discomfort to constant, debilitating symptoms.

Complete Our Dry Eye Questionnaire

Understanding your symptoms is the first step in finding the right treatment for you. Our dry eye questionnaire helps us gather important details about your condition, lifestyle, and triggers so we can provide a personalized care plan tailored to your needs.

Complete the questionnaire before your visit to help us better assess your situation and provide effective treatment options. It’s quick, easy, and will give our team valuable insights into your eye health.

Take Our Dry Eye Questionnaire

What Causes Dry Eye?

Several factors can contribute to dry eye disease, and often, it’s a combination of causes. One of the most common causes is meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), where the meibomian glands, responsible for producing the oil layer of your tears, become blocked or dysfunctional.

When this happens, your tears evaporate too quickly, leading to dry eye. Other factors that may contribute to dry eye include:

Age (especially those over 50, as tear production decreases with age)
Contact lens wear or previous laser eye surgery
Hormonal changes, such as pregnancy, menopause, or hormonal birth control
Certain medications, including antihistamines, decongestants, and antidepressants
Medical conditions such as Sjögren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, or thyroid disorders

Symptoms of Dry Eye Disease

The symptoms of dry eye can vary, but common signs include:

A stinging or gritty sensation in the eyes
Redness or irritation
Watery eyes (a reaction to dryness)
Blurry vision, especially toward the end of the day
Sensitivity to light
Eye fatigue, especially after reading or using a computer

Diagnosing Dry Eye Disease

Diagnosing dry eye involves a thorough eye exam and a discussion of your symptoms. We use different diagnostic tools, including:

Meibox infrared ocular camera: Detailed images of your eyelids and meibomian glands
Dyes/staining: Highlights areas of dryness or damage on the eye’s surface
InflammaDry: Detects inflammation by measuring levels of MMP-9 in the eye
DEA-520: Our new diagnostic device that performs a full panel dry eye evaluation and assessment for comprehensive eye health analysis.
Subjective TBUT (tear breakup time): Measures tear film stability to identify instability
A dry eye questionnaire: To fully understand and assess your symptoms
A comprehensive eye exam: To assess the overall health of your eye

These diagnostic methods help us determine the most effective treatment plan tailored to your specific needs.

Treating Dry Eye Disease

We offer a variety of treatments tailored to your specific needs, from lifestyle adjustments to different technologies, including eye masks, eyelid sprays, eye drops, and specialized treatments like IPL therapy and radiofrequency treatments.

Eating a balanced diet can also support tear production and protect your eyes from further damage. Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids (like salmon and sardines) and antioxidants (like blueberries and leafy greens) can help improve eye health and alleviate dry eye symptoms.

Our goal is to help you find long-term relief from dry eye symptoms and improve the health of your eyes.

InMode intense pulsed light (IPL) therapy is a noninvasive treatment for dry eye disease. Using controlled pulses of light, IPL targets the root cause of dry eye by reducing inflammation and improving the stability of the tear film.

The treatment also works to clear blockages in the meibomian glands, which produce the oily layer of your tears. This oil helps prevent tears from evaporating too quickly.

We also offer IPL therapy for aesthetic services.

LipiFlow is an FDA-cleared treatment designed to provide relief for dry eye sufferers caused by meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). This treatment uses gentle heat and pulsating pressure to liquefy and remove the thickened oils that can block your meibomian glands.

By clearing these blockages, LipiFlow helps restore the natural flow of oils into your tears, improving the quality and quantity of your tear film.

InMode radiofrequency (RF) therapy uses targeted radiofrequency energy to treat meibomian gland dysfunction. This gentle heat stimulates the meibomian glands, promoting the secretion of high-quality oils that are essential for tear production.

The procedure is comfortable, noninvasive, and also has the added benefit of reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles around the eyes.

Meibomian gland expression is a manual or mechanical technique used to clear blockages in the meibomian glands, which produce the oily layer of the tear film. When these glands become clogged, the tears evaporate too quickly, resulting in dry eyes.

By gently applying pressure to the eyelids, our optometrists in St. Thomas can express the accumulated oils, helping to restore normal tear production and reduce discomfort.

This treatment is often used together with other therapies to provide comprehensive dry eye relief.

Celluma LLLT is a modern light therapy treatment that uses low-level laser light to reduce inflammation and promote healing of the eye’s surface. This noninvasive therapy works by stimulating cellular regeneration, which helps improve tear production and can alleviate dry eye symptoms.

Celluma LLLT is an excellent option for patients with chronic dry eye, as it can reduce irritation and promote overall eye health without the need for medications or invasive procedures.

ZEST (Zocular Eyelid System Treatment) is a gentle yet highly effective treatment designed to address eyelid hygiene and help relieve dry eye symptoms. The procedure uses a combination of cleaning and exfoliating techniques to remove debris, bacteria, and inflammatory substances from the eyelids and the surface of the eyes.

By improving the overall health of your eyelids and tear film, ZEST helps reduce irritation and discomfort associated with dry eye.

Dry Eye Referral Form

Please use this form to refer your patients for a comprehensive dry eye assessment.

Once a treatment plan is established, you will receive a detailed report to support your future management of the patient. For fellow optometrists, we provide dry eye treatment options only, and your patient will return to your office for ongoing optometric care.

Dry Eye Referral Form

Take the First Step Toward Dry Eye Relief

Dry eye symptoms can be frustrating and uncomfortable, but you don’t have to live with them. Our experienced team is dedicated to helping you find the right treatment to manage your dry eye disease and restore comfort to your eyes.

Whether you’re dealing with mild dryness or more advanced symptoms, we offer a range of effective, personalized solutions to fit your needs.

Contact us to schedule an eye exam with our eye doctors in St. Thomas and see what dry eye treatment is right for you.

Request Appointment