Dry Eye Relief in Edmonton

Edmonton, along with the rest of Alberta, is one of the driest climates in the world to live in. This is primarily attributed to its unique geographical location and continental climate. Although I believe our geographical location is one of the most diverse and beautiful provinces Canada has to offer, it comes at the cost of itchy, dry skin and dry, burning eyes. This is due to the rain shadow effect where moist air ascending over the Canadian Rockies from the West, loses its moisture and is cooled. This dry air is then warmed, unable to hold moisture as it descends into the foothills and prairies of Alberta. Additionally, our continental climate has significant temperature variations throughout the year, with Edmonton having hot summers and extreme cold winters, further contributing to drier air.

July is recognized as Dry Eye awareness month. But rather than waiting until July to create a TikTok for its awareness, Alberta Optometrists should be making our patients aware year-round at your routine eye exam. As previously suggested, because of Alberta’s geographical location and continental climate, dry eyes are highly prevalent in our province increasing the number of potentially serious eye health complications if left untreated. This has led eye care professionals to switch from calling dry eyes a “symptom” to diagnosing it “dry eye disease” (DED) because of its potential complications in eye health including sight loss.   

Patients often mention to me that when their eyes are dry, “[they] take eye drops and they are fine.” This may be true, but the question I challenge my patients is what is making their eyes feel dry, red, irritated, itchy, watery, and/or causing fluctuating vision? Dry eye symptoms such as these may have more insidious causes and may not simply be a lack of moisture due to our climate.

Constant exposure to our dry climate can lead to many of our challenges in diagnosing and treating DED. But other comorbidities also can contribute to these challenges such as autoimmune and systemic disease, eye surgery (LASIK, PRK, cataract surgery), allergies, medications, cosmetics, skincare, hormonal changes, age, gender, contacts, digital devices, improper blinking, and diet. These all can further increase the risk of potentially sight threating complications of DED when left untreated and/or undiagnosed.

There are many treatment regimens available to help manage DED, but not all regimens are the same. Each regimen is designed to treat and manage a specific root cause of DED. These causes usually result in either being tear insufficient, having tear evaporation, or a mixture of both. It is the optometrist’s task to try and identify root causes and devise an effective treatment plan to regain homeostasis of the entire system.