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Looking For Dry Eye Treatment in Long Grove?

Wondering why your eyes always feel dry, scratchy, or gritty? Can’t figure out why your eyes are always so watery? Dry eye syndrome may be to blame.

What many people don’t realize is that eye drops are often not the best way to relieve these and other dry eye symptoms.

Contact Midwest Dry Eye Center in Long Grove for effective and lasting dry eye treatment.

Request an Appointment

What Is Dry Eye Syndrome?

Tears are an important part of keeping your eyes hydrated, comfortable, and healthy. Dry eye syndrome happens when your eyes are either not making enough tears, or the tears your eyes are making are of poor quality. Either way, your eyes are left poorly hydrated, causing your eyes to feel red, itchy, and sore. Many people don’t know that dry eye syndrome can also result in excessively watery eyes, as well.

Dry eye syndrome has a number of causes, including:

  • Clogged meibomian glands
  • Swollen eyelids
  • Side effects from medications
  • Auto-immune issues

Many people are unaware that dry eye syndrome can do permanent damage to your eyes and vision. In extreme cases, untreated dry eye syndrome can cause scratches on the eye, called corneal abrasions, and scar tissue can gradually build up, reducing visual clarity.

Learn About the Most Common Cause of Dry Eye

Causes Of Dry Eyes (Ocular Surface Disease)

While over eighty percent (80%) of dry eye cases are caused by blocked oil glands in the eyelids — a condition called meibomian gland dysfunction or evaporative dry eye — many other factors can cause this syndrome. These include:

Gender – Women are at much higher risk than men of dry eye syndrome. This is due to hormonal fluctuations linked to pregnancy, birth control, or menopause.

Age If you’re over 50, you’re at higher risk of developing dry eye symptoms.

Environment – dry wind, dry air and dry climates can cause your tears to evaporate more quickly. This can be made even worse by heaters, air conditioners, and fans at home or at work, as well as things like hair dryers.

Sides effects from medication – Many medications for anxiety, depression, and other disorders can cause problems with the tear film that lead to dry eyes.

Auto-immune disorders – Sjogren’s disease and arthritis, among others.

MEET OUR DRY EYE TEAM
Todd Cohan O.D.

Dr. Todd Cohan O.D.

How Do I Know If I Have Dry Eye Syndrome?

Do any of these symptoms seem familiar?

  • Discomfort that worsens as the day goes on
  • Very watery eyes
  • Gritty-feeling, itchy, or stinging eyes
  • Eye strain or fatigue
  • Severe light sensitivity

Suffering from dry eye syndrome not only makes your day-to-day life less comfortable, it also makes activities such as driving, reading, writing, or playing sports much harder.

Think you have dry eye syndrome? Get to the root of your eye discomfort by contacting us today.

Diagnosing Dry Eye and Finding Dry Eye Solutions

We work hard to provide excellent dry eye treatment for all our patients. To do that, we offer a number of advanced tests to determine the root cause or causes of your symptoms. Once we’ve done that, we are able to prescribe eye drops or other effective dry eye solutions to restore your visual clarity and comfort.

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What Others Are Saying About Us

5

This patient has had long standing dry eyes for over a decade and upon diagnosis and management with Lipiflow to get the glands working as well as topical treatment with this new revolutionary drop, this patient is doing fantastic.

"I had been experiencing non-stop itchy and watery eyes for months.  I would wake up each morning with swollen bags both on top and below the eye.  I use a night gel and xiandra but I knew I needed to see Dr.  Cohan.  He put me on Regener-eyes and almost immediately the swollen pink bags and watery eyes disappeared and I can return to being a worry-free eye makeup wearer.  Thank you!" -- Diane

Regener-eyes dry eye testimonial

- Diane
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Lasting & Effective Dry Eye Treatment

Our eye care team isn't just prescribing quick medications to address the symptoms of dry eye syndrome, while ignoring the base causes. Quite the opposite, we want to make sure that we're creating a custom solution that works for each individual patient.

Because dry eye can have so many different causes, and so many different treatment options exist as a result, a dry eye exam is an essential part of knowing where to start.

For example, some prescription eye drops and artificial tears can help address inflammatory tear deficiency, but more mild cases of dry eye may not need or respond to this treatment at all.

Those suffering from less severe symptoms may benefit more from non-prescription treatments including heat masks, lid scrubs, or punctal plugs, among others.

Learn More about Dry Eye Syndrome | FAQ

medical-plus medical-plus How are Watery Eyes Related to Dry Eye?

Many people don't realize that their watery eyes maybe a sign that they have dry eye syndrome. It may sound paradoxical, but dry eyes often cause the eyes to react by producing more tears than usual to make up for the fact that your tears are evaporating too quickly. Unfortunately, these excessive tears aren't made to properly lubricate the eye, so they don't do much to help relieve the underlying symptoms or discomfort of dry eye syndrome.

medical-plus medical-plus Is There a Cure for Dry Eye Disease?

Unfortunately, there are currently no available cures for dry eye syndrome. Even so, our Long Grove eye doctors have the technology and experience to identify the root of your dry eye symptoms so that we can find the right treatment to give you long-term relief and comfort. Topical steroids, punctal plugs, and heat treatments are all common options we offer depending on the cause and severity of your dry eye symptoms. For more information, visit our Dry Eye Treatment Page

medical-plus medical-plus Do Gels, Ointments, & Artificial Tears Help Dry Eyes?

These solutions are effective in the short-term but are usually not the treatments our Long Grove eye care team recommends for long-term relief from symptoms. Visit our eye care clinic for a full dry eye evaluation. We'll identify exactly what's causing your dry eye symptoms and prescribe treatments that will allow you to begin seeing more clearly and comfortably.

Want to learn more about how we can help you live more comfortably and see more clearly? Give us a call or come visit our Long Grove dry eye practice.

We’re happy to discuss how our dry eye program works and what you can expect when you come for your dry eye consultation. Our eye care team is friendly and professional. We look forward to seeing you and helping you live your best life!

Request A Dry Eye Appointment