Dry Eyes Treatment

How We Treat Dry Eye Syndrome

Most people considering laser vision correction (LVC) have at least some dry eye syndrome (DES), because if their contacts were 100% comfortable, why would they want to get rid of them?

Unfortunately, most LASIK centers do not do enough to properly diagnose and treat DES before surgery, which often results in patients having prolonged recovery and sub-optimal vision. Worse, LASIK has been shown to worsen or cause dry eyes in many (perhaps even most) patients. Indeed, if a person already has moderate-to-severe dry eyes before LASIK, it’s almost negligent for that surgeon to choose LASIK, as cutting the LASIK flap will cut the corneal nerves, and almost always worsen symptoms. In this case, the responsible, experienced surgeon is supposed to choose a “surface ablation” procedure (PRK or LASEK) which is non-cutting, so no corneal nerves are cut, which vastly reduces the chance of worsening the dry eye symptoms.

Park Avenue LASEK is the only center in NY, NJ, CT or PA which specializes in treating patients with dry eyes, or those who wish to avoid DES after surgery, because we are the only center in the region to only perform the non-cutting LASEK that has been proven to be superior over LASIK for patients with itchy, sandy, scratchy, irritated eyes or contact lens intolerance before surgery.

Here’s the proof:

We’re the only LVC center in the NYC metro region which provides this important questionnaire (click here) and flow diagram (click here) for you to complete and read even before coming in for your Free Consultation!
We’re the only LVC center which will have a full eye MD surgeon ophthalmologist (not an OD optometrist or “tech”) fully assess you for DES before your surgery and perform a full battery of tests, including but not limited to:
- 1. Slit lamp exam
  2. Corneal staining to look for SPK
  3. Examination for lagophthalmos
  4. Schirmer’s test
  5. Tear break up time (TBUT)
We’re the only center that pre-treats each and every patient with tears and punctal plugs or cautery and omega-3 supplements before surgery, to optimize your ocular surface to ensure your fastest recovery and best final results.
We offer the highest quality products for your convenience (e.g. omega-3 supplements by Science Based Health, available only in doctor’s offices, not in any drug store). We not only offer them for the same price as those inferior products at CVS Pharmacy, we even allow you to get them for free for doing something simple like posting about your LASEK on social media!

Why don’t other centers focus on testing for and treating DES to optimize your visual results? Who knows? It’s just one more reason why 1,000 smart people choose Park Avenue LASEK every year, and why we have the highest Google Maps rating of any center!

What Is Dry Eye?

Dry eye occurs when our eyes do not produce enough tears or the tears produced do not have the normal chemical makeup. It is estimated that 1 out of every 5 American adults suffer from dry eye discomfort. In fact, dry eye is one of the most common problems seen by eye care practitioners.

Symptoms of Dry Eye

Dry eye symptoms include:

A scratchy, gritty, burning feeling in your eyes
Excessive watering
Itching
Redness
Stringy mucus in your eyes
Increased sensitivity to light, wind, dry air, smoke or air pollution, contact lens wear or extended periods in front of a computer screen

Why Us?

We at Park Avenue LASEK really care about improving your vision — not just “getting your lasered” so we can make revenue. That’s why we’re the only laser vision correction center in NY, NJ, CT or PA which will thoroughly evaluate your ocular surface and optimize it for your best possible vision—whether you proceed with LASEK or not 🙂

The vast majority of people coming in about LASIK, LASEK, PRK, Smile or ICL have some component of Dry Eye Syndrome (DES). This is for many reasons — years of contact use/abuse, older age, allergies, excessive caffeine intake, not drinking enough water, other medical conditions, etc. prioritizing you as a patient. If you were 100% happy in contacts, you wouldn’t be here.

The reason Dr. Chynn only got LASIK in his left eye 20 years ago is that it caused dry eyes & night glare, so he didn’t want to proceed with his right dominant eye. Only after he helped invent the newer, safer, non-cutting LASEK procedure at Harvard & perfected it over a decade did he get LASEK on his more critical right dominant eye — which isn’t dry, unlike his left eye.

Why is Dr. Chynn so obsessed with “optimizing your ocular surface”? Because after receiving degrees from Dartmouth, Columbia, Harvard, Emory & NYU, and being featured on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox & Discovery Channel & in the NY Times & Wall St. Journal & being published in top medical journals, he’s lectured all over the world preaching the same “gospel” — the only way to achieve the fastest recovery & best visual outcome is to optimize the ocular surface before surgery!

Please complete the following DES questionnaire thoroughly. One of our eye MDs (not OD or “tech”) will review it on your Free Consultation, then use it to guide an extensive evaluation of your ocular surface, including Schirmer’s test, TBUT, Schirmer’s, SPK grading & punctal diameter, to assess if you have blepharitis, meibomitis, SAC, or DES. If you have any of these conditions, our MD will inform you about the diagnosis, and prescribe a specific therapy to make you feel & see better — even if you don’t proceed with LASEK! You get a 2-for-1 that no other center offers: a Free Consultation + optimization of your ocular surface!