so how do you get rid of red eyes you
know for everybody every now and again
we always get maybe a little bit of an
eye redness and you know it's
self-limiting it usually lasts maybe a
few hours to maybe in a day or so but
for people who struggle with frequent
bouts of red eyes that people often
asking if you either have an eye
infection have you been smoking
something or maybe your eyes look
bloodshot all of the time then it can be
really concerning and it can even bother
your daily life so today we're going to
be talking about all the different
treatments for red eyes and how to get
rid of red eyes including not only
conservative treatments that you can do
at home but medications and
over-the-counter products that you can
find that usually do work very well to
more advanced treatments from
prescription medications that you can
get from your eye doctor as well as
different procedures that are often
through an eye clinic and even some more
advanced kind of eye-whitening
procedures which can have complications
which I think you really need to know
about if this is something that you are
considering to get so now tonight we are
going to be talking not only about red
eyes but I do just want to give a shout
out to all of our channel members uh
this education is sponsored by our
channel members and so they help us keep
our mission of bringing eye health
education to people of the world so
thank you to our members they helped
choose the topic for this evening and
they get priority for our live q a that
we're going to be doing in later on at
the end of the education so again thank
you to our Channel supporters and
members if you do want to consider
becoming a channel member we'll have
links in the chat as well as in the
description below so you can learn all
about that
now I do want to start off kind of
talking about generally red eyes and
what's concerning to me as an eye care
professional I think you need to know
about before we even dive into it uh red
eyes I even had a patient yesterday who
showed up in the clinic and it's a
frequent reason people come to visit us
the patient who came in just yesterday
she had one red eye and I could see it
from across the room but she had other
symptoms it wasn't just you know maybe a
little bit of dryness she also had pain
in the eye she noticed changes to her
vision she was noticing more glare and
light sensitivity and even sometimes
mucus can come out at the same time if
you're having any symptoms especially
the pain that redness the redness that
comes with the pain vision changes any
mucus discharge that's a more concerning
sign than just kind of consistent your
eyes look red and so I do encourage you
to seek Eye Care Professionals whether
an Optometric Optometric physician an
ophthalmologist in your area or some
other qualified health care professional
I think it's really important to keep
that in mind
now um Beyond just you know maybe your
eyes look a little red irritated what do
most people do most of us try to go to
the store to find like the cheapest
option and we look at eye drops so we're
going to first talk about the get the
red out drops now
when you go to the store the most
frequent medications and this is true if
you if you look into the statistics the
most famous eye drops that are sold
worldwide are probably one of these
Brands this is either Visine Clear Eyes
Roto but these are the get the red out
drops and there's a reason why a lot of
doctors don't really like these
medications and we're going to talk
about that so if you or somebody who
currently uses these type of drops or
you've had used them in the past this is
some stuff you want to know about these
before you continue using them or you
can try to pick them up
first of all the active ingredient in
these medications or these eye drops uh
are tetrahydrozoline and the phasoline
now these do work but these medications
are from the 1940s and 1950s they're
very old and what they do is they blanch
the blood vessels on the eye they make
the dilated blood vessels constrict and
so the eyes look whiter the downside to
these is that they do have what's called
tachyphilaxis This is the fancy medical
term and they know there won't be a quiz
on this or anything but tachyphilaxis is
where in the easy way to say it is that
the medication stops being as effective
over time it's not quite right to say
you're building an immunity to it but in
a way you can think of it that way where
if you use an eye drop and then maybe it
makes the eyes wider for maybe two hours
let's say but then it wears off and the
eyes become more red so what do you do
you use another eye drop and this time
it makes the eyes white again but it
only lasts maybe an hour and a half and
so use it again and then it maybe only
works for an hour and it slowly becomes
less and less effective the more you use
it next thing you know you're using it
every 10 minutes to make the eyes look
white and it's just it's not getting
better and so you use more and more of
those drops the second part of it is
rebound redness and so when the eyes
when it wears off and the eyes become
red again it doesn't just go back to
Baseline of where you were before the
redness dilate your blood vessels dilate
even more than where they were at so the
eyes get redder and redder over time and
so because of this combination factor of
both the tachyphilaxis of it becoming
less efficient and this rebound redness
that's why doctors don't recommend it
and oftentimes the all the preservatives
that you're also getting in there namely
one called Bak or benzyl colonium
chloride it's a great preservative but
it has almost a Toxic effect on the eye
that a lot of people have a sensitivity
or almost an allergic reaction to two
and so again because of those reasons
that's why people just aren't doctors
are not a fan of it
now if you do go to the store other than
these other get the red out drops one
that was approved in 2017 is under the
brand of lumify and I've had some people
in the comments already asked about
lumify lumify is an active ingredient
called bromonidine that originally was
FDA approved in the United States back
in the 1990s for treatment for glaucoma
and this was at a higher percentage than
lumify and that helps reduce aqueous
formation inside the eye the fluid
inside the eye that causes eye pressure
it also helps drain the fluid from
inside the eye and so it's really useful
for glaucoma but as a lower dosage at
0.025 percent it can cause the redness
the blood vessels on the eye to
constrict but it works through a
different mechanism than the other drops
previously mentioned and in a study
here's um a graph from one of the
clinical studies used for
um even for its FDA approval they found
that after this installation Within one
minute the eyes got significantly wider
and it lasted for a solid two hours
before it started wearing off and then
it continued to have a good effect up to
eight hours so lumify has had a really
good profile there and compared to the
other ones it does not have the
tachyphilaxis effect it does not and it
rarely rarely in the research shows
rebound redness
so overall a lot of people will reach
for lumify nowadays and where I live uh
lumifies often
um kind of caged or it's like in a
plastic security cage at the pharmacy
because a lot of people either try to
steal it uh and it's just it's it's a
newer product and it works better than
the older formulations uh it is a little
bit more expensive around 20 30 US
dollars in my experience when I shop
around
one caution word of warning though and I
really
um
for people who use this or rely on it
some people are allergic and have pretty
severe reaction to brimonidine so if you
ever try it and your eyes get worse like
blaring red you may have an allergy and
so you don't want to use it or if you
have used glaucoma medication
formulations of brimonidine and you know
you're allergic to it don't use it if
you are using frequently again this also
has Bak in it which you can be really
sensitive to and can cause irritation to
the eye and even long lasting effects in
some studies are maybe showing that Bak
has long lasting damage to the eye in
some cases so
um I I do caution people away from
abusing it and using it too much uh even
myself I'll use it on occasion if I'm
going to take photos uh or if I rarely
use it in front of videos or anything
like that but that's when I think it's
most appropriate it's occasional use
especially if you're going to go for a
job interview uh or if you're going to
take photos things like that
also don't use it before going in to see
an eye care professional if you coming
in for an evaluation because it has a
masking effect imagine you're coming in
for us to figure out what's wrong what's
causing your red eye but you're using
this and then all it's doing is kind of
masking
um makes it harder for us to make a
proper diagnosis and figure out what the
root cause really is if that makes sense
so
what are other options other than these
get the red out drops at the store what
are things that you can do at home what
are conservative therapies one of the
most frequent ones I think that works
great especially for young kids who are
rubbing their eyes a lot because their
eyes look red or irritated as cold
compresses this is just a matter of
getting a cold wash rag you can use you
know ice covered in a towel you don't
want to hurt yourself because it's too
cold there's also eye masks like gel
ones you can put in the freezer in the
fridge and it cools it down this these
are really good for red or puffy eyelids
especially Associated like if you first
wake up in the morning your ads a little
puffy or if you have mild itch or
irritation or allergies cold compresses
can help they constrict the blood vent
the cold will constrict the blood
vessels a little bit and it'll help
reduce some of the swelling and fluid
formation formation
in addition to just cold compresses
artificial tears can work really well uh
now the reason lubric artificial tears
work is because it helps lubricate the
eye so if you have either enough not
enough tears on the eye or if you have
any sort of irritation scratches on the
eye and if you have a chronic dry eye
your eyes every time you blink are
probably scratching the surface of your
eye as you blink because if you're not
producing enough lubrication then the
the eyelids are like like you're
scratching the surface of your eye like
if you scratch your arm here with your
fingernails that's happening every time
you blink and so it can be really
painful and in some ways cause more
damage so using eye drop lubrication is
certainly a strategy that people will
use but I do have a couple of tips for
you if you are using eye drops one
refrigerate them try refrigerating them
because that'll make it cool you'll make
sure when it hits your eye you'll feel
it and so you make sure you're actually
getting the drops in the eye plus the
coolness effect May mildly constrict the
blood vessel just a little bit
also if you can try to check the bottle
and buy preservative free eye drops
because then you won't have to worry
about the Bak or other preservatives
causing sensitivity or allergic
reactions so those are just a couple of
tips that I recommend thinking about
now I do want to talk about allergies
for a moment because topically at the
timing of this education it is kind of
Springtime turning into summer and so a
lot of trees and plants are blooming
flowers are coming out and we also
have unfortunately where I live in the
Upper Midwest here in Minnesota uh we
have a lot of forest fires and
candidates of smoke and air pollutants
are starting to come down and we're
having a lot of people with allergies
and flare-ups on the surface of their
eye and allergies can come from not just
plants and pollen but if you're indoors
a lot dust and pet dander are big also
using different
um
whether it be Cosmetics like you're
using any sort of makeup or using
shampoos and soaps if you're changing
shampoos and soaps or detergents for
your clothes these are also known to
cause allergic reactions for people
commonly other than just redness uh The
Telltale sign that doctors listen for is
itch if your eyes itch if they burn
that's usually a sign that it's probably
something allergic but your eyelids will
puff up and become swollen in this case
and also tear frequently so these are
good things to um always kind of be just
listening to to think if it may be an
allergy
what often works really well if you do
go to an over-the-counter these are
options that we find at pharmacies here
in the United States uh we do have pad a
day and elasticaft these have been
historically prescription only you had
to come to see a doctor and it'd often
be anywhere from like 90 to like even
200 US dollars to get one of these
prescriptions but a few years ago they
either I'm not sure if they lost their
patent or if they just decided hey let's
go generic and sell it over the counter
because they're so safe both Patty day
and last decaf are once a day dosing and
these work as an antihistamine but also
have a secondary Mast Cell stabilizing
effect and Mast Cell stabilizers uh
basically helps stabilize and prevent
future outbreaks of allergies to be as
bad and so uh if you I have a lot of
patients who use Pat a day and elastic
half to not only soothe immediate
allergic itch symptoms but also helps
calm down and prevent future outbreaks
especially if they know that they it's
going to be Springtime or fall season
and they know they have an allergy that
comes out at that time they'll just
start using this once a day on their own
to kind of prevent things from getting
much worse if you're somebody who has
tried either of these and it either
doesn't seem to work or maybe it makes
things worse because I have a few
patients who've tried elasticaft and it
makes their eyes feel worse then Alloway
has has a preservative free option this
is a little different active Medicaid
active ingredient but works very similar
Works in is an antihistamine and the
Mast Cell stabilizer and because it's in
a preservative free formulation it's
another thing to kind of look for but
oftentimes need to be used twice a day
now I've had other people ask also
they've tried all these options and it
doesn't seem to help or maybe you've
suffered from allergies for a long time
so there are people who have really
severe allergies or even atopic disease
they have like an autoimmune component
to not just allergies affecting their
eyes but their whole body their skin and
so for this oftentimes people do have to
resort to prescription medications
including topical steroid eye drops now
in the eye clinic we can prescribe
really strong topical steroids sometimes
we'll prescribe them pretty frequently
even up to every hour every two hour for
some cases but for a lot of my patients
even this time of year I'll write a
prescription for a what's called alrex
that's the brand name for a soft steroid
that's called a lot of pregnenol at a
really low dose and that's been FDA
approved for seasonal allergic
conjunctivitis and a lot of patients use
that four times a day for a couple of
weeks to months and we'll just make sure
that we follow to make sure that their
eye pressures aren't rising up or that
they're not developing any of the
complications as even though alrex or
load of prednance all is considered more
of a safer topical steroid for either
different inflammatory conditions on the
eye it's still associated with other
complications like glaucoma as well as
cataract formation if used for long
periods of time
so if you ever do go see the doctor for
this and you're using it make sure you
are following up with them as they
recommend to make sure that you're not
developing any other complications
the other thing I want to mention is
just the causes of chronic red eyes
because there's going to be a lot of
issues rather than just being a
momentary thing some people do develop
chronic redness for years and this can
be due to dry eye syndrome blepharitis a
buildup of bacteria and dead skin cells
on the eye causing inflammation of the
eyelids environmental exposures sunlight
exposure mainly UV light can cause a lot
of redness and irritation smoke wind
exposure and then again just dust and
allergens these are common things is
that keep in your mind if you're
chronically exposed to these things
could be causing eye redness
now uh there are some treatments for
these chronic causes if it really
depends on the cause so if you have
blepharitis or some other infection like
a bacterial infection your doctor will
likely prescribe an eye ointment or eye
drop medication of an antibiotic such as
an example erythromycin ointment uh that
you work pretty well uh if you have
again chronic redness like with dry eyes
sometimes you have chronic inflammation
on the eye so we'll use again
prescription steroid drops but like I
mentioned there can be side effects with
using steroids long term so then we'll
reach for like a steroid sparing
anti-inflammatory such as topical
cyclosporine or the brand name Restasis
I have in the photo there and uh that
one's cyclosporin's been out for almost
going on 20 years now and so there's a
lot more research on using that because
it is a safe better safety profile long
term than relying on just steroids so I
do have patients that have chronic
allergies and redness from allergies and
I will prescribe not only topical
steroids but then we'll start them on
Restasis to be kind of a long-term
solution to get them to get them through
long term because we don't want them to
have the complications of cataracts or
glaucoma uh and that's just why I have
this little red on there is because I
just want you guys to know that there
can be complications and chronic red
eyes may require like long-term
treatment especially when it comes to
dry eyes uh it's very similar to having
rheumatoid arthritis and there's kind of
just a loose phrase that rheumatologists
will use that if you've had a disease
for for every year you've had the
disease you're going to require at least
one month of treatment so if you've had
dry eyes for 10 years you may require 10
months of treatment to get things under
control again this is kind of a loose
saying that a lot of doctors will throw
out there
now a procedure I want to mention
um that's not just like a prescription
medication but a procedure that eye
doctors are now using mainly for dry eye
but also for rosacea is something called
IPL this stands for intense pulsed light
and I have done at least one video on it
before and I've mentioned a few others
intense pulse light is originally a tool
used in dermatology as a therapeutic uh
kind of treatment for either sun spots
or dark spots on the skin they use it
for kind of laser or light hair removal
but they also use it for help tightening
collagen formation on the skin and
reducing fine lines and wrinkles but
it's also been approved for treatments
for rosacea and then after about 12
years of research it was finally FDA
approved for treatment of dry eye and
meibomian glandis function and we this
is this is a great option I think for
helping redness of the eye although IPL
doesn't directly get put on the eyeball
because uh the brightness of the light
can potentially penetrate through the
eye and get to the retina and that's a
safety concern so it doesn't directly
treat the redness of the eye but if it
does treat dry eyes and reduces the
inflammation in the eyelids and around
the eye we can not only reduce the
redness of the skin but as a secondary
effect it can often reduce inflammation
and reduce redness on the eye that way
personally I find that this has probably
the best most effective treatment
especially for people with rosacea or
ocular rosacea I find that they have the
best response to this both in my
personal experience as well as in the
literature
the other option again is amniotic
membranes this is something that a lot
of clinics don't use only about 10
percent of eye doctors in the United
States even use this at this time we do
quite a bit of these at our clinic and
it's again not specifically approved for
ocular redness but as kind of a
secondary effect we'll use it for not
only dry eye or Cardinal diseases like
recurrent carnal erosion
ulcers on the eye neurotrophic keratitis
a lot of different conditions I've even
had some patients we've treated for dry
eye that also have allergic problems
with the eyelids and we notice that a
lot of their redness alleviates and so
it can help with all of these conditions
again it's not specifically just
treating the redness but we treat the
dryness and any other kind of ocular
surface disease and as a secondary
effect it helps a lot of the redness
so you can ask your local Eye Care
Providers if they offer amniotics again
only about 10 percent of the eye doctors
in the country in the United States are
doing these
um but I do find them to be a great
option for patients with ocular surface
disease
I do want to give a quick shout out to
Barbara thank you so much for um sending
us a super sticker I really appreciate
that I look forward to any q a that you
have
um now what about surgical eye whitening
I'll tell you I've had probably over the
last three four years I've had a good
handful of either celebrities or like
influencers reach out to me either
through email Facebook or Instagram
asking me about my opinion about certain
eye whitening surgical procedures
while these are not super common they
did start becoming kind of popular back
in 2008 and you can certainly look
around for them uh you won't see too
many doctors doing the procedures and
there's a couple of reasons why and this
is just something to consider so uh the
procedures either called a
conjunctivoplasty or a conjunctive
ectomy this helps reduce redness it can
be used to help remove redness
pinguecula and pterygiums which are
caused by sunlight exposure and
inflammation on the surface of the eye
and I've done a video on that and we'll
try to put a link uh in the comment
section as well as just below this video
if you want to know more about pink
whacklas and pterygiums and then
melanosis like pigmented spots on the
white covering of the eye if you're
either born with a pigmented spot on the
white part of the eye or if you've
noticed one growing uh definitely talk
to your doctor because they may be able
to remove it through these procedures
but there is these procedures mixed with
the use of mitomycin c and bevacismap
both mitomycin C and bevacismab are
anti-cancer agents that have started to
be employed with Eye Surgical procedures
to mainly reduce new blood vessel
formation as well as fibrovascular or
fibrosis to form on the eye and the idea
and concept of doing these procedures
removing the conjunctiva the clear
coating on the surface of the eye which
is hypervascular which is the reason why
your eyes become red mixed with these
different medications the theory sounds
great but in practice there are high
risk of complications a review of about
1 713 patients there's an 83 percent
complication rate and if you caught our
last live stream last month where we
talked about I floater surgical
treatments those risk factors are like
two percent and a lot of retinal
surgeons consider two percent pretty
high this is 83 percent High uh 83
complication rate and of those
complications it's about 55 or about 55
percent severe complications
um with that the complications are
scleral thinning I IOP or um the eye
pressure elevation leading to glaucoma
double vision fibrovascular
proliferation and calcification and then
redness so after a few months to Years A
lot of people develop redness back
anyway and this is largely because the
surgeons are treating the symptom
they're treating the redness they're not
ultimately treating the root cause if
it's dry eye allergy uh sunlight
exposure they're not helping influence
change lifestyle factors
so I think this isn't to completely like
talk bad about the doctors who are doing
these procedures they may have great
success with them individually but if
this is something that you know your
career depends on your eyes looking
really white you're worried about how it
looks and you want to pursue these
surgical procedures I just highly
encourage you
um to get not just talk to the surgeon
and research their history and success
but get a second and third opinion about
it as well because at least based on the
current knowledge most doctors I know do
not recommend it based on these high
complication rates
so uh I know we've covered quite a bit
here I do want to call out just that
redness is a very general cause of a lot
it's kind of an alarming sign that
something's wrong with the eye it can be
caused you know you can have an
infection due to viruses bacteria
um most cases of pink eye and other
infections are caused by viruses like 90
and then uh fungal infections are very
rare but those often when we see them
are due to people like hitting hit in
the eye with like a tree branch some
sort of vegetable matter
can be caused by autoimmune conditions
uh injury whether physical or chemical
surgical conditions contact lenses can
even lead to more redness of the eye
myself either rebound redness when I
take my contacts out because my eyes are
so dry my eyes look red for a few
moments but I even have permanent blood
vessels that have grown on my eye that
run to the contact lens and then run
alongside the contact lens because I've
worn contacts since I was 13. so that's
another thing just to keep in mind fine
and then just environmental causes I
just want to mention all of these so
that you're thinking also like what
could be the main root cause of your own
redness and things to discuss further
with your local eye care professional
when you get it evaluated
and with that again if you have redness
associated with pain vision changes any
sort of discharge whether it be mucus
um you know green brown anything leaking
out of the eye and it hasn't gotten
better in three days please seek medical
attention okay
with that we're going to switch over to
q a thank you guys so much if you found
value in this education please
definitely hit the like button on this
video uh and stick around because we're
going to be doing some q a I do want to
give a shout out to all of our channel
members uh these are some of our current
members you guys are amazing again they
have helped suggest this video topic as
well as next month and
um they get priority in our live q a
if you do have questions do us a favor
right now start putting in question
marks and then put your question in
followed by a few more question marks I
do want to try to focus on talking about
red eyes the topic of today whether it
be dry eyes allergies or if you've had
other red eye questions uh please put
those in the comment section we're going
to try to focus on those today if you do
have other questions Beyond just red
eyes please feel free to ask those as
well if we have time we'll get to them
otherwise we'll also save those as
potential future videos and maybe our
live education next month
with that being said we're going to
switch into the Q a uh I do wanted to
say that this is not going to be medical
advice I think it's unethical for me to
pretend that this is equivalent to
seeing an eye care professional
um and coming into the clinic to get a
thorough exam however with any of your
questions I'll try to address them as
just general education about the eyes so
everybody can kind of learn from your
question
so thank you guys all for being here and
let's dig into some questions
I see uh right away again I do want to
say Barb thank you so much
um for your contribution early I really
appreciate that uh I do see
um
from Rennie can a cornea graft
transplant be done twice yes corneal
transplants unfortunately if you're
getting a coronal transplant either from
trauma if you've had a condition like
keratoconus or
um you know maybe maybe there's so many
different reasons you can end up needing
a corneal transplant or even a graft
but typically these run about 15 years
on average and so it's not uncommon for
people to need a cardinal transplant
after about 15 years
rejection is unfortunate but it's
something doctors are well aware of and
look for often it's why a lot of
patients are on steroid eye drops
chronically at least maybe using it once
a day to help prevent rejection but on
average it's about 15-year lifespan and
after that people often do need a
re-treatment and I'm not sure if there's
like a Max I wonder if there's a world
record holder out there who's got like
the most corneal transplants ever
um
so thank you very much for that
um
this is an interesting question from
again uh do you need an ophthalmologist
tested shampoo and conditioner in order
to avoid getting red eyes from shampoo I
would say no
um you know there are some different
medication not medications but shampoos
conditioners as well as Cosmetics which
are now endorsed by some ophthalmologist
or said that they are approved by it but
it really doesn't mean too much I don't
put too much weight on that personally
uh it's something that you do maybe have
to do trial and error and try to figure
out what maybe you're allergic to
certainly testing your skin and hair but
if your eyes you know the big thing for
myself I just keep my eyes quite tightly
closed when I'm showering some people
may just you know really keep their head
back or something like that there's
different kind of ideas but I don't
think I don't personally put too much
weight if it's ophthalmologist tested
and approved it makes it feel good but
uh I think it's very much a personal
thing
this is not related to red eyes but I do
want to just answer this quick Gail how
many eyeglasses are too many uh not
enough
there's never too many
um especially for me sunglasses I'm just
a sunglasses collector so I've got like
30 some pairs of sunglasses
um as far as regular prescription
glasses I probably only have like I
don't know maybe 10 but most of them are
old and not really my best prescription
so I may need to update that so thanks
for asking that uh most people though
probably just need at least one if not
two pairs of good glasses uh just to
have as a backup or maybe something like
a sunglasses pair or if you need
bifocals maybe having a specific pair
for just near tasks or computer use
um
just to kind of reiterate so Dem here
has a question about to reduce the
appearance of red eyes other than
vasoconstrictors I think the main goal
and goal for all eye doctors if you have
red eyes and that's the big issue it has
to do with inflammation so if you have
damage to the eye
whether it be irritants allergens
dryness
something's causing inflammatory
proteins to be released in the eye
tissues and that triggers the blood
vessels to dilate
for contact lenses for example there's a
little bit of inflammation I think that
can occur due to contact lens use but
that's also oxygen and that's because
contact lenses slow down the amount of
oxygen getting to the eye
and the cornea the front surface of the
eye is a vascular so that sends in
certain mediators to call blood vessels
to grow onto the cornea and that's
that's why people like myself who've
worn contacts for a lot of their life
will have these new blood vessels
growing on their eye
and so it's it's not usually uh
a severe consequence if you're using
contact lenses a lot but it's it's
something that doctors observe and we
look for in the clinic so
um the whole idea and concept behind
using eye drops treating dryness
allergies is so we can reduce this
inflammation on the eye and long term
hopefully get your blood vessels to kind
of reside and and stop being so dilated
and looking so red but good question
um
I want to call out a cat feds had a
question about Manuka eye drops so uh I
actually did a video last fall on Manuka
eye drops as there was some good review
Publications coming out because there's
a lot of different individual studies on
Manuka eye drops some of the studies
aren't amazing but they like amazing
like they're just not that well done
studies uh there certainly don't have a
ton of participants in them but there
are some benefits to Manuka eye drops
and I know some cornea and dry eye
specialists who do believe in it
um I've used them myself the big thing
about Manuka honey uh is if you ever use
those drops they do sting quite a bit
like remarkably so uh so but in in a few
studies using them twice a day have
shown quite a bit of reduction of
inflammation biomarkers on the eye and
uh helped improve meibomian gland
dysfunction for some patients and
consequently improved their redness so I
do encourage you to check out that video
uh on our Channel reviewing the studies
amanuka eye drops and I think some
people have reported even I've had
people come in to see me in the clinic
after watching my videos and trying
Manuka honey and report that it does
help them
um but for most Eyecare professionals
it's still kind of below the radar it's
something that I think a lot of
healthcare professionals want to see
more uh diligently done research studies
before they start either offering it or
frequently recommending it
um
let me see
this is an interesting question from
Dylan uh Dylan can people be born with
lizard-like eyes I guess I'm not 100
sure if you mean lizard-like eyes like
the pupils are shaped kind of like a
lizard or a cat eye
um or if you just mean like uh because
chameleons their eyes can look all
different directions right or if you
mean like scales because some people do
have on the surface of their eye
their eyes are so dry it looks like
scales forming on the eye that's usually
seen in uh usually in third world
countries
or in people who maybe in a first world
country but have a vitamin A deficiency
a severe vitamin A deficiency vitamin A
typically we ingest this either through
animal products in the solid form of
vitamin A or we get vitamin A through
beta-carotene through a lot of vegetable
sources and their body converts it to
vitamin A and stores it in our liver
vitamin A's necessity for the retinal
function and so if people don't have
enough vitamin A they usually can't see
well at night time but as another
consequence they get severe dryness of
their mucosal tissue and on the eye and
so people can have almost like this
lizard scaly-like formation on not just
the cornea but the conjunctiva again the
clear coating on the eye and so this is
something that we rarely see in kind of
more developed countries but in people
who are malnourished in like third world
countries we can kind of see that
appearance so hopefully that answers
your question
um but no people typically aren't born
with lizard-like eye unless they have a
collaboma where the iris didn't develop
correctly or um most people can't move
their eyes individually unless they're
uh just um they usually have some form
of what's called strabismus or or
amblyopia or a lazy eye
um but those that's that's a really
interesting question hopefully that
answers it for you
this is another good question I think
answer is a good thing for everyone to
know from Urban Nomad do I need to wear
sunglasses even in a cloudy day it looks
odd so most Eye Care Professionals will
still recommend sunglasses or some form
of eye protection on a cloudy day and
the reason why is for the same reason
your dermatologist recommends you either
wear a long sleeve shirt or sunscreen on
a cloudy day even though it's not as
bright because of the cloud cover UV
light still penetrates and you get
burned pretty quickly and that means UV
light is still hitting the eyes
increasing your risk of not only
thinning of the eyelid scan in fact the
number one place for you to get like
skin cancers on your lower eyelid and
then it increases risk of things like
cataract development and maybe
photokeratitis or kind of a sunburn on
the surface of the eye now you don't
need to wear dark sunglasses there are
lighter tone sunglasses it does not
matter on the color of the sunglass you
can even get clear lenses like the
glasses I'm wearing right now there's
just a mild prism prescription in these
but they have UV light protection built
in and so again it doesn't need to be
sunglasses you can have just clear
lenses that have sunlight protection too
at the very least no matter what wide
brim hat right that reduces about 30
percent of I've read that in one
research study it was about 30 of the
sunlight exposure to the face so
consider getting a nice wide brim hat
hopefully that helps thank you that's a
good question
um
so Bonnie asks about white bumps on the
inside of the eyelid that are very itchy
so when we so for an example when we're
in the eye clinic when I have students
and I've got students
um uh fourth year students finishing
their degree that come in I'm an adjunct
clinical Professor when we look at the
eye one of the first things we always
look for especially in allergies are a
papillary reaction this is small little
bumps on the lower eyelid when we pull
it down there can be larger kind of
clear bulbous
kind of growths
these look these are technically more of
a
uh more of a limp-free action and
oftentimes we see that in we call them
follicles but we often see this more in
either viral reactions or there is one
type of bacterial uh conjunctivitis
which can be pretty nasty that shows up
with these kind of wider more bulbar
follicle growths and that is something
that can respond to steroids for a
little bit but then often come back uh
and there there is something
oftentimes a really strong antibiotic is
used for that condition now there can be
other causes for these white bumps
um
but it's something that I it's toughest
for me to say right now but I encourage
you just continue seeing your doctor or
if it's something that's not getting
better you can also consult for a second
opinion but if it's been going on for
months and months and medications help
but it often comes back that's something
that is a red flag to me that hey this
is chronic we need to be thinking about
a couple of different diagnoses so
hopefully that helps you Bonnie thank
you
um
just because it's a quick answer
um nesto do you think it's necessary to
wash the rgp lens with distilled or
boiled water before putting it in the
eye uh I never recommend using water
with any contact lenses
I know some doctors historically said it
was fine to use water
um but no matter what any water
um
even even distilled I'm going to go that
far and just saying don't use any water
because some of the nastiest eye
infections mainly either pseudomonas or
acanth amoeba can come from contact
lenses and water it's best to use
appropriate
um
contact lens solutions that are
recommended by Eye Care Providers but as
always I'm not your doctor so please
consult your local eye care professional
about what they recommend so
um JD thank you
um thank you so much for being here love
you back
um
and then let's see Gail you asked
ooh good another one so you so uh should
you open your eyes while showering or in
the swimming pool when you go
um
it's best not to get soap in the eyes
and certainly I don't recommend opening
the Eyes under water when you're
swimming especially if you're in a
chlorinated pool or really
um I mean if you don't have goggles on
you're you are introducing bacteria and
microorganisms and harsh chemicals into
your eyes and so that's why the eyes
often burn afterward uh and definitely
not with contact lenses it's it's not
recommended to shower swim with contact
lenses and definitely not be in a hot
tub with contact lenses again for the
same reasons uh pseudomonas and acanth
amoeba keratitis is is oftentimes not
only scarring in the eye causes terrible
pain costs you a lot of money to come
see me multiple times and put you at
risk of needing a corneal transplant and
uh yeah just don't don't want that for
you
so let's see
um
Melissa asks does Latisse cause dry red
eyes
usually no but Latisse um Latisse is
supposed to be more applied to the
eyelashes and not get onto the eyelids
or in the eyes but I know some people
have had allergic reactions to Latisse
so it's possible
um usually though if you're using other
Cosmetics or if you are using anything
else around the eyes that may be
contributing to development of like an
allergic reaction or even
potentially there's some research now
coming out about cosmetics
causing damage to the meibomian glands
and even other kind of disrupting the
tear film and so while that is kind of a
newer Theory there is some some evidence
coming out about that and now there's
even like Cosmetics eyelash growth
serums uh
like
forgive me I'm not I don't wear makeup
but uh what's a mascara I'm trying to
think of like eyeliner and mascara uh
these frequently used cosmetics
and makeup products there's a now
there's a couple different brands of
dry eye research-backed ophthalmologist
tested approved cosmetics and so these
are very good for sensitive eyes and so
um we'll be I've talked mentioned it in
a few other videos but we should do a
couple of videos about these new
products in the next year so thank you
for asking though that's really good
so uh who dis is it safe to use low-dose
steroid eye drops long term you know a
couple times a week for flare-ups
oftentimes doctors will prescribe these
uh steroid drops for flare-ups there's
even an eye drop called isuvius which is
a a steroid eye drop which is Ben
basically FDA approved for use of kind
of treating the harsh flare-ups that can
occur because if you have chronic dry
eyes and then again it's Smoky like it
is right now uh the last few weeks
because of the Canadian forest fires
then
um
then people will have flare-ups because
of that and so doctors will recommend to
use steroids however even if you're
using it once in a while your doctor
should be recommending that and you
should still want to be following up
with your doctor as they recommend to
make sure you're not having either an
eye pressure response or you're not at
high risk of developing cataracts or
other complications so the good question
though thank you
um
Millie did ask found that ocean water
was an incredible flush for my eyes MGD
thoughts uh so ocean water while it does
have different microorganisms in it is
an interesting salt composition right
your tears
are not pure water I've had people tell
me they just use like distilled water or
other stuff in their eye the tears are
very complex combination of not just
water but different salts as well as
antioxidants and proteins and so
um perhaps
and this is something I'm getting I'm
getting very into just developing a
hypothesis here but perhaps if there's
like a pH balance loss in your tears in
your case then maybe that's helping it
um
I don't think any eye doctor is going to
recommend that you continue to do that
but it's uh it's something to definitely
talk with your local doctor about see
what they think but either way
um I'm happy that it's you're having
some benefit
um
thank you
this is a very brief answer here Carrie
asks can you explain keratitis causes
remedy so keratitis is a very benign
um I can't very benign it's a very
general term that basically means some
form of inflammation of the cornea and
this is often due to infection like
ulcers
um so you and it can even be due to just
sterile inflammation often due to
viruses or toxic reactions so you can
have a toxic keratitis you can have a
bacterial keratitis you can have an
immune stromal keratitis so it's really
type of inflammation that's occurring of
the cornea the Clear Window to the eye
and so these are any keratitis your
doctor should be monitoring and
prescribing medications for that
depending on the cause and it could be
ranging from eye drops to oral
medications again for like immune
stromal keratitis this is usually due to
um somebody who has a viral infection on
the eye and so we won't just prescribe
topical steroid drops to reduce the
swelling but will often prescribe oral
antiviral medication to treat the the
viral outbreak which is causing the
outbreak so hopefully that that makes a
little bit more sense
um
can't regenerize uh so regenerize is
interesting it's uh if you've if
anybody's watching hasn't heard of
regenerize this is kind of a liquid form
of the amniotic membrane it came out
maybe five years ago I don't know for
sure but they I've used it for a few
patients and had success they did run
into a problem with the FDA because of
how they were marketing and bottling
their medication or this regenerize it
is not covered by insurance for the pro
strong version of it it can be like
upwards of 200 a bottle and for the
light version
um which thankfully doesn't need to be
refrigerated or the pro version does
it's a little bit more affordable and so
people can keep it in their you know
because it's not doesn't have to be
refrigerated they can keep it in their
purse or in their pocket but I've had at
least three or four patients on it and I
would say
um I've only had one person who didn't
find good sex success with it but
definitely again some thing to talk with
your doctor about if they are concerned
about it because again they're a little
hiccup with the FDA hopefully they
cleared that out
um
but I think it was just an uh an
advertising marketing thing because the
FDA also regulates not just safety of a
medication but they also regulate what
they can market and say about um about
the medication both to doctors and to
the public so
that's that's kind of cool
uh I know we're covering a lot of stuff
here I'm going to try to quick just
select some of our members uh Vanessa
asked besides using pad today every day
what else can you do to help with eye
allergies uh other than you know if your
itch is the main issue I find if you
haven't tried elasticaff elastic half in
some research has shown to be better for
itch than Pat a day like symptom of itch
specifically I do
um think cold compresses and using
artificial tears can help artificial
tears more frequently can just flush
allergens out of the eye but the biggest
thing for allergies is trying to figure
out what you're allergic to and trying
to eliminate that from your environment
whether it be pet dander dust
um if you are allergic to any sort of
pollen specifically uh even bugs like
cockroaches are known to be a cause of
allergen if anybody lives in
um like an area that has more
cockroaches so those are those are
ultimately the things you need to do
about allergies but again
if just regular over-the-counter
conservative therapies are not doing the
trick for you then talk to your local
eye doctor and they they should be able
to help you out
um so great questions do want to give a
shout out to uh GM here as a new member
thank you for joining
um awesome to have you here sir
um thank you guys all very much uh I
know we've been running about 50 minutes
so we're going to wrap it up thank you
guys all for being here if you do have
other kind of questions or things like
that please
um feel free to drop them in the comment
section I'll be in the comments later
this evening in the next few days trying
to answer anything on this video uh I do
want a quick answer because GM just
joined
um secondary glaucoma due to use of
steroid eye drops for eye allergies and
exactly why we've been talking about
continuing with the doctor
um
well I'm happy that it's all working
great that's just amazing uh for people
who don't know what Ortho K lenses are
those are a specialty contact lens we
have done one video on that on the
channel but that's a contact lens that
helps mold and shape the surface of the
eye so that you don't have to rely on
either glasses uh contacts during the
day or that you don't have to rely on
like surgical procedures like Lasik but
Ortho K can be really awesome
um and not only do I fit them I I don't
I'm not personally a great candidate for
Earth okay but I do fit a lot of
patients with it and one of my
colleagues Dr Faso he does them quite
frequently and it's great so uh again
thank you guys all for being here
just love you guys and um just hope you
have a great day
we'll talk to you later
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