SoCal Dry Eye Specialist

[Cali]

The most comprehensive dry eye exam I’ve had thus far, after 8 cornea specialists, is from Dr. Justin Kwan at the Southern California College of Optometry in Fullerton. Dr. Kwan heads up their dry eye department. He used the latest diagnostic tools, including a meibography. Highly knowledgeable, engaged, thorough and current in the latest clinical studies, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Dr. Kwan. What a relief to find him.

[Dog2012]

He is a great doctor..Totally Agree !!

[LindaT]

What did he do or recommend after the exam. I already know that my eyes are extremely dry. I have found very little relief. I have been used "cold compressed" castor oil compress at nite as well as putting a little into my eye.
That does give me some relief.

[Cali]

What was great is that all the tests gave me a holistic view of "why" and “what type” of dry eye I have. From the VERY comprehensive exam which included a meibography, I learned:

-Roughly 90% of my glands have neither atrophied nor dropped out
-I have ocular rosacea in both eyes
-I am “oil” deficient as opposed to “aqueous” deficient
-I have cornea neuralgia in my right eye

Linda, do you know what type of dry eye you have?

It’s very important to know the specifics of “your” situation. The types of drops recommended for “aqueous” dry eye, might aggravate “oil” deficient dry eye. Also, if you’re post-LASIK like myself, some underlying nerve issues (seen on confocal imaging) might be enhancing the pain of dry eye, so systemic pain meds would be prescribed. And for ocular rosacea, it’s important to make diet changes.

All of the above has to be factored into my treatment plan. It’s not a simple one-size-fits-all for dry eye treatment. That’s why Dr. Kwan is so great. I have a custom treatment plan given my specific particulars.

To answer your question, Dr. Kwan told me to warm compress and light massage for 10 seconds twice a day. New studies are revealing that hot/warm compresses might be causing changes in the cornea shape. Also, I take one softgel, 2x a day of Nutrigold Triple Strength Fish oil. I am on 50% autologous serum eye drops, every 2 hours. If I do not have access to my serum, Dr. Kwan recommended Refresh Optive Advanced (which I really like). I am on 20mg Amitrypline for the neuralgia and tea tree facial wash and Cliradex eye wipes for demodex mites (as prescribed by my ophthalmologist).

Dr. Justin Kwan is an Optometrist vs. an Ophthalmologist.

What did he do or recommend after the exam. I already know that my eyes are extremely dry. I have found very little relief. I have been used "cold compressed" castor oil compress at nite as well as putting a little into my eye.
That does give me some relief.

[patientpatrick]

I saw Dr Kwan back in the beginning of this year. He is a very good doctor although I find it interesting how his diagnostics were different from several of my other docs. For example, he stated that I did not have ATD after a zone quick test. Yet when I went to other docs (one of which did a zone quick test as well) my schrimer scores were low. He also recommended doxy for 1 month and a half to reset my MGs. I've been on doxy for 3.5 months and my oil is still coming out like toothpaste, despite doing warm compresses twice a day for 15 min. Finally I know he's not an MD but I asked him about my nerves growing back after Lasik. It was over a year since under going the surgery and he said my nerves should have grown back by now. Whether that is true or not, i'm hoping he's wrong.

All in all though, he did a great deal more testing than most docs who just do a schrimer and dye test. I'm thankful for that. I just wish that I'd gotten better results following his treatment plan.