Dry Eye Doctors of Colorado

About Us

What is Ocular Surface Disease?

Ocular Surface Disease (OSD) is a condition where the tear film becomes too salty causing inflammation on the surface of the eye.

This is a chronic progressive condition that can cause severe discomfort.

Why Choose Us?

We are THE dry eye experts of CO. We identify the root causes of your dry eye allowing us to create an effective treatment plan tailored to you. We are an innovative patient focused practice with state of the art diagnostic equipment and treatments options to eliminate your ocular discomfort, restore ocular surface health, and improve your vision.

Why do my eyes feel bad?

Our tear film is made up of three layers:

The bottom layer is mucus created by goblet cells.

The middle layer is aqueous (like saline) with sodium.

The top layer is oil (lipid) made by meibomian glands.

85% of patients with dry eye have evaporation of their tears due to an inadequate lipid layer. As the tears evaporate, the solution becomes more salty, causing stinging, redness, & burning.

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Eyelid infection is often a root cause.

Over 50% of patients over the age of 50 have "blepharitis" which is an infection of the eyelid caused by staph bacteria or Demodex Mites. The infection causes inflammation of the eyelids, which causes the oil glands to clog up (meibomian gland dysfunction).

If there is an inadequate lipid layer, the tears will evaporate causing the tears to become salty and the ocular surface becomes inflamed.

A key component in managing ocular surface disease is treating blepharitis.