Philosophy

At The Dry Eye Treatment Center our goal is to diagnose and treat any eye issues you may have early on in an effort to help you feel better, see better and to keep your eyes from progressively getting worse. We want to keep your eyes healthy for the rest of your life!

Many people come to us complaining of symptoms of ocular discomfort such as burning, irritation, red eyes, tired eyes, intermittent blurry vision, etc. Other people are unaware that they have dry eye, environmental allergies, demodex, or meibomian gland dysfunction and are readily diagnosed using our state of the art technology and advanced examination techniques.

Regardless of whether you have dry eye, environmental allergies, demodex, and/or meibomian gland dysfunction, patient education is the mainstay of our treatment. We educate you, in language you can easily understand, with an emphasis on creating an awareness of the things in your environment that can exacerbate your symptoms and provide you with many holistic/natural recommendations.

Usually, treatment is readily accepted by people who are experiencing symptoms, are uncomfortable, and are aware that they have an issue with their eyes. For people who are not experiencing any symptoms it is not uncommon, even human nature, to be less motivated to embrace medical treatment. Understanding this, Dr. Muller spends a lot of time explaining the chronic and progressive nature of these conditions which results from the inflammation they cause. This ongoing inflammation can damage your eyelashes, the surface of your eyes, and your tear producing glands which, over time, results in less and less tear production. As this process progresses your eyes become drier, more uncomfortable, and you may experience a decrease in your visual acuity. At this point even people who were previously symptom free tip a balance and become bothered by their symptoms. Often, unfortunately, by this time there has been a lot of irreversible damage, which is why Dr. Muller emphasizes educating and treating you early. Our philosophy is to educate and treat, sometimes only holistically/naturally, so that these conditions don't become progressively worse and irreversible.

our-philosophy

It is our preference to initiate intensive treatment for a short period of time to affect a dramatic improvement quickly. This intensive treatment typically consists of education, holistic/natural recommendations, one or two prescription eye drops and a prescription ointment for bedtime. We then see you back a few weeks later at which time you typically report that your eyes feel much better and that your vision is sharper, crisper and clearer. As you continue to improve, as next steps Dr. Muller will determine the minimum treatment necessary.

In many ways dry eye, environmental allergies, demodex and meibomian gland dysfunction are similar to high blood pressure and diabetes in that you can have one or more of these conditions without experiencing outward symptoms and therefore may not know that you have these conditions unless diagnosed on examination. Like hypertension and diabetes, dry eye, environmental allergies and meibomian gland dysfunction are chronic conditions, not curable, but manageable. The key is not to let them progress to the point where they have caused a lot of damage to your eyes and therefore require a lot of ongoing treatment.

Dry eye, environmental allergies and meibomian gland dysfunction are multifaceted, multifactorial conditions; so too is our approach to diagnosing and treating each individual we see. At The Dry eye Treatment Center each patient is evaluated thoroughly. Dr. Muller takes a very detailed history including your specific symptoms, medical history, medications you take, how many hours per day you read, etc. After a full examination and diagnostic testing, a customized, personalized treatment plan is created. Each treatment regimen is designed specifically to fit your lifestyle and personal philosophy. A treatment plan that may work for one patient may not work for the next. It is Dr. Muller's goal to individualize all of the available treatment modalities for each patient. Over time your treatment is tailored based upon your progress.

The key to successfully treating these conditions is partnering with you, the patient, such that together we work toward the common goal of optimizing your lifelong ocular health and vision.