Tear Osmolarity is an important biomaker of ocular surface health. Increased tear osmolarity means the tears are too salty. The hyperosmolar tears are destructive to the surface of the eye and linked to dry eye disease.
Dry eye is a multifactorial disease of the tears and ocular surface that results in symptoms of discomfort, visual disturbance, and tear film instability with potential damage to the ocular surface. It is accompanied by increased osmolarity of the tear film and inflammation of the ocular surface.
At Westside Optometry we will analysis your tears to quantify the osmolarity. We will take a sample of tears from each eye and use the TearLab device to measure osmolarity (the saltiness of your tears). As osmolarity in your tears increases, the ocular surface cells become damaged. The test is quick and requires no drops, it only requires an amount of tear fluid no larger than the period at the end of this sentence.
Tear Osmolarity For a video description about tear osmolarity and TearLab, click on the image.