4 Eyes Optometry equipment room
Image Credit: 4 Eyes Optometry
September 10, 2024 - 8:00 AM
Your eyes are a key indicator of your overall health, and that is why at 4 Eyes Optometry - West Kelowna's newest optometry clinic - quality eye care goes far beyond just fitting patients with prescription lenses.
Dr. Karli Kilkus has been helping her Okanagan community care for their eyes - and fitting them with corrective lenses - for over seven years. With the opening of her clinic in West Kelowna, Dr. Karli, as her patients know her, is still focusing on the full spectrum of eye health - but there is one area that she has extensive expertise: Patients suffering from a condition known as "dry eye disease".
Helping patients who have chronically dry eyes is essential to Dr. Karli for a specific reason - she suffered from the condition in her early university days. In her case, neither age nor allergies could be linked to the struggles she was having with her eyes, so Dr. Karli just suffered. Until she was finally diagnosed with dry eye disease while in optometry school and was fortunate to learn first-hand, the range of treatment options available. "Often, people who have dry eyes do not realize that they need more than just eye drops and that irreparable damage can result from lack of effective treatment," Dr. Karli explains.
Dry eyes occur when a person's tears cannot provide sufficient lubrication for their eyes. Essentially, your eyes cannot produce enough tears - or they are producing an excessive amount of poor-quality tears. According to Dr. Karli, this can happen for various reasons (common allergies, auto-immune disorders, age, and environment, to name a few), and the treatment method varies from patient to patient. Dealing with the challenges of having dry eyes left an imprint on Dr. Karli, one that led to the advanced dry eye therapy she now offers in her West Kelowna clinic.
4 Eyes Optometry interior2
Image Credit: 4 Eyes Optometry
Interestingly, the rise in patients who have dry eyes has been linked to an unexpected cause - the dramatic increase in the amount of screen time people are subject to. The statistics Dr. Karli shares are shocking: as much as 50% of people suffer from dry eyes (often without knowing what is actually wrong), and only a small percentage of those people actually find the care and solutions they need. All that motivated Dr. Karli to open her own clinic, one where she could invest in helping patients avoid the dry eye challenges she herself had faced.
When it comes to diagnosing and helping patients, Dr. Karli has some very advanced tools to diagnose and treat dry eye disease. 4 Eyes Optometry is one of the few clinics that offers Intense Pulse Light (IPL) therapy. This treatment uses short but powerful bursts of light (on a very specific wavelength) to remove obstructions from the glands where your tears are produced. Dr. Karli's therapy at her 4 Eyes Optometry clinic treats the root causes of dry eye, not just the symptoms. Combined with other, conventional treatments - such as preservative-free eyedrops and unique, heated masks - patients at 4 Eyes Optometry are experiencing lasting relief from dry eye symptoms.
While the patients who come to see Dr. Karli fit into a wide demographic, she can also help with contact lens issues. "Many of the patients I see have worn contacts their whole life, and now - as they are getting older - they find wearing contacts a struggle." The solutions to that problem can sometimes be simple, Dr. Karli explains, often coming down to the type of eye drops that people are using.
Dr Karli Kilkus pro-photo
Image Credit: 4 Eyes Optometry
At 4 Eyes Optometry, Dr. Karli prides herself on creating a welcoming and safe space for everyone, where she can spend the time needed with her patients to thoroughly discuss their concerns and the solutions available. "We have a wonderful family-friendly space here," Dr. Karli tells me. Being an independent optometrist means having the freedom to fully dedicate herself to her patients and their eye care needs. Whether it is a simple case of needing an updated prescription or someone struggling with issues like dry eyes, 4 Eyes Optometry is ready to help.
To book an appointment with Dr. Karli, check out the excellent website for 4 Eyes Optometry or call (778) 795-0707. Their office/showroom is located at #402 525 Hwy 97 South in West Kelowna.
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