Helping You Navigate & Get Relief from Dry Eyes
It’s no secret that the weather in Alberta can get cold and dry, and with that, dry eye can be a common condition many people have to deal with. The good news is that you’re not alone. Our team at Prairie Vision has you covered.
Our experienced eye doctors offer comprehensive evaluations and a range of therapies designed for long-term dry eye relief. Through diagnostics and treatments like IPL therapy, radiofrequency treatments, and more, we can help you find relief.
If dry eye symptoms are impacting your daily life, book an appointment with us to discuss relief options tailored to your needs.
Recognizing Dry Eye Symptoms
Dry eyes can present differently for each person, often affecting both eyes simultaneously. Common symptoms of dry eyes include:
- Eye fatigue
- Stinging or scratchy sensations
- Stringy mucus in or around the eyes
- Light sensitivity
- Redness
- A sensation of something foreign in the eyes
- Difficulty wearing contact lenses
- Nighttime driving discomfort
- Excessive tearing as a response to dryness
- Blurred vision
Understanding Dry Eye
Dry eyes are usually due to an imbalance in the tear film, leading to insufficient hydration. Tears are crucial for nourishing and lubricating the eyes, helping keep them comfortable and healthy. Dry eye occurs when tears fail to provide adequate hydration, which is common and often chronic, leading to discomfort and irritation.
This can happen because of aqueous deficiency or evaporation. To understand these, it helps to know how the tear film works.
Every time you blink, your tear film spreads across the surface of your eyes. This film is essential for keeping your eyes healthy and comfortable. It also helps focus light and protect your eyes from debris and dirt.
Your tears are made of 3 distinct but equally important layers:
- The mucin layer: This inner layer of the tear film helps the film stick to the eyes. It contains mucus produced by the conjunctiva (the surface of the eyes).
- The watery layer: This middle layer hydrates and nourishes the eye tissues and protects them from foreign particles. It contains proteins, electrolytes, and mostly water produced by the lacrimal glands.
- The lipid layer: This outer oily layer prevents the tear film from evaporating too quickly, keeps the surface of your eyes smooth and clear, and is produced by the meibomian glands.
Aqueous deficient dry eyes occur when the lacrimal glands don’t produce enough of the tear film’s aqueous layer. They account for only a tenth of dry eye cases and are usually characterized by their relation to Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease.
Evaporative dry eyes occur when there’s a lipid layer deficiency, leading to increased tear evaporation. It’s often caused by meibomian gland dysfunction (also known as MGD, a condition that blocks the meibomian glands) and blepharitis (inflammation of the eyelids). This type of dry eye can occur in cycles: blepharitis can cause dry eyes, but dry eyes can also cause blepharitis.
Although a tear film imbalance is the primary cause of dry eyes, many factors can influence this imbalance in the first place. Some of these include:
- Age: Changes related to age can affect those over 50.
- Hormones: Hormonal changes experienced during pregnancy or menopause can cause dryness.
- Medications: Some medicines, like cold and allergy medications, beta-blockers, sleeping pills, and more, have ocular side effects.
- Environment: Smoky, windy, dry, or hot climates can make your tears evaporate more quickly, as can sitting near fans, heating units, and air conditioners.
- Performing close-up tasks: Extended computer use, reading, or writing for longer than 2 hours can lead to dry eyes.
Take Our Dry Eye Questionnaire
If you’re experiencing symptoms like dryness, irritation, or blurred vision, take our quick dry eye questionnaire to assess your symptoms. We’ll use your results to recommend effective relief options tailored to your needs.
Discover Your Fitzpatrick Skin Type
Ever wondered how your skin reacts to the sun? Understanding your Fitzpatrick skin type can help determine your risk for sun damage and eye conditions like UV-related cataracts.
Take our quick Fitzpatrick skin type quiz to learn more about your skin’s sensitivity and how to protect your eyes and overall health.
Let Us Know About Your Health History
Completing a health history form is an important first step in preparing for your dry eye treatment at Prairie Vision. This form helps us understand your unique medical background, symptoms, and lifestyle factors that may be contributing to your dry eye condition.
Getting Dry Eye Diagnostics Right
We use different diagnostic tools and techniques to thoroughly assess your dry eye needs. Our diagnostic process includes:
- Dyes/staining: We apply special dyes to evaluate the surface of your eyes. This helps identify areas of damage or dryness in different areas of your eyes.
- Subjective tear break-up time (TBUT): This test measures the stability of your tear film. After applying a small amount of dye, you will blink and then look straight ahead. We time how long it takes for dry spots to appear on the cornea. A shorter TBUT indicates a less stable tear film, guiding our treatment approach.
Through these diagnostic methods, we can help diagnose your dry eye and prepare a treatment plan.
Our Dry Eye Treatments
Every case of dry eye is unique. Our team first diagnoses the root cause to prioritize relief and then tailors a treatment plan to meet individual needs.
Depending on your specific case, you may require more than one type of treatment. We offer several dry eye therapy options at Prairie Vision so you have a better chance of achieving comfortable, clear, and healthy vision.
Lumecca IPL (intense pulsed light) is a treatment that targets the root causes of dry eye discomfort. This non-invasive procedure uses light technology to reduce inflammation, improve tear film stability, and improve overall eye health.
By addressing meibomian gland dysfunction, which is often a key contributor to dry eye, Lumecca IPL promotes the production of natural oils in tears, leading to improved hydration and relief from symptoms.
Forma radiofrequency is a treatment for dry eyes that uses controlled radiofrequency energy to stimulate collagen production in the eyelids. This process helps improve the meibomian glands’ function, which is crucial for producing the oily layer of tears that prevents evaporation.
Radiofrequency treatments help improve tear quality and stability, relieve dry eye symptoms, prioritize comfort, and create a healthier tear film.
Punctal plugs are tiny medical devices about the size of a grain of rice that are inserted into tear ducts to prevent tears from draining too quickly. They can also be used with artificial tears.
The Bruder mask applies gentle heat to your eyelids, helping release blockages in your oil glands and allowing the oils to flow back into your tears.
Prokera is a medical device designed to provide anti-inflammation and anti-scarring properties that promote natural healing.
We also carry a range of ophthalmic products by Labtician, including eye drops and gels.
Schedule Your Dry Eye Consultation Today
If you’re experiencing persistent dry eye symptoms, relief is within reach. We can help address your symptoms through treatments like IPL therapy and radiofrequency.
Contact our team today to book a dry eye consultation and start your journey to clearer, more comfortable vision.
Explore Our Services
Protecting Your Vision
Your eyes are your windows to the world and should be nurtured regardless of your age or physical health. A comprehensive eye exam allows our team to detect, manage, and treat eye issues among children and adults.
From early detection of vision problems in children to managing age-related eye conditions in seniors, our experienced eye doctors provide personalized care for every patient.
Your eye health is our priority, and we are committed to delivering the care you need when you need it most. Trust Prairie Vision to be your partner in eye health for life!
Come Visit Our Locations
Wainwright
We serve clients of all ages from Wainwright, Viking, Vermilion, Provost, Lloydminster (Alberta), Macklin (Saskatchewan), and the surrounding areas.
- 2802 15th Ave, Unit 2
- Wainwright, AB T9W 0A4
- Phone: 587-606-0270
- Fax: 780-842-3443
- Email: [email protected]
Hours Of Operation
Vermilion
We serve clients of all ages from Wainwright, Viking, Vermilion, Provost, Lloydminster (Alberta), Macklin (Saskatchewan), and the surrounding areas.
- 5010 50 Street
- Vermilion, AB T9X 1M5
- Phone: 587-606-0394
- Fax: 780-853-6504
- Email: [email protected]
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Prairie Vision Vermilion
- 5010 50 Street
- Vermilion, AB T9X 1M5
- Phone: 587-606-0394
- Fax: 780-853-6504
- Email: [email protected]
Prairie Vision Wainwright
- 2802 15th Ave, Unit 2
- Wainwright, AB T9W 0A4
- Phone: 587-606-0270
- Fax: 780-842-3443
- Email: [email protected]