Dry Eye in Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is a very large city, and where you live in it changes what eye care is convenient. We are in the Ahwatukee Foothills at the southern edge, which puts us closer to most of South Phoenix and the southeast valley than the practices clustered around the central corridor. Since the 202 South Mountain Freeway opened, patients coming from Laveen and South Mountain reach us in about half the time it used to take.

Phoenix records more than 290 sunny days a year and regularly leads the country in UV index during summer. The city's dust events, particularly the summer haboobs, drive a seasonal spike in corneal abrasions, allergic conjunctivitis, and dry eye flares that we see clearly in our own appointment book each July and August.

Phoenix records more than 290 sunny days a year and relative humidity that regularly drops into single digits, which is the single most hostile combination for a tear film in any major American city. Patients who move here from a humid climate frequently develop dry eye within their first year and assume something has gone wrong with their eyes. Usually nothing has. The environment changed, and the tear film that coped elsewhere does not cope here.

Dry Eye is one of the services where that matters most. If your eyes burn, sting, feel gritty, get tired by mid-afternoon, or water constantly for no obvious reason, you probably have dry eye. The watering surprises people, but it is one of the most common presentations we see: the eye is irritated, so it produces a flood of reflex tears that lack the composition to fix the underlying problem.

Most people arrive having already tried several drops from a pharmacy shelf. When those did not work, the usual conclusion is that nothing will. That is generally the wrong conclusion. It is much more often that the drops were treating the wrong problem.

Dry eye has multiple distinct causes and they need different treatment. Getting the diagnosis right is the entire game, and it is the part that a two-minute conversation at a retail optical counter cannot deliver.

Your tear film has three layers: a mucin layer against the eye, a watery layer, and an outer oil layer that stops the water evaporating. Dry eye happens when one of them fails, and which one has failed determines what will help.

From central Phoenix, take I-10 east to the Chandler Boulevard exit, then west to 48th Street. From South Phoenix, the 202 South Mountain Freeway connects directly.

A practical note for Phoenix patients: we are eight minutes from Sky Harbor. Patients who travel for work frequently schedule with us specifically because they can get a contact lens problem sorted out on the way to or from a flight, and because a specialty lens that fails on the road is a much bigger problem than one that fails at home.

Practically, that means we try to schedule Phoenix patients around the drive rather than in spite of it. Mon to Thu 9am to 6pm, Fri 8am to 5pm, and early morning or late afternoon slots are usually available if you are fitting this around work. If you are bringing more than one family member, tell us and we will book you consecutively so the trip covers everyone at once.

We also verify your insurance benefits before you set out, so you are not driving from Phoenix to find out that something is not covered. Call us with your plan details and we will confirm exactly what applies, including whether the service bills to your medical insurance rather than your vision plan, which for several of our specialty services it does.