Dry Eye Treatment

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Dry Eye can have a major impact on your quality of life. You may find your eyes get tired faster or you have difficulty reading. Not to mention the discomfort of a burning sensation or blurry vision. Let’s take a look at dry eye treatments – from simple self-care to innovative prescriptions and therapies – to help you see clearly and comfortably.
 

What is Dry Eye?

Understanding dry eye will help you determine the best treatment option. Dry eye occurs when a person doesn't have enough quality tears to lubricate and nourish the eye. Tears reduce eye infections, wash away foreign matter, and keep the eye’s surface smooth and clear. People with dry eyes either do not produce enough tears or their tears are of poor quality. It’s a common and often chronic problem, especially in older adults.
 

Preventive Self-Care

Before we delve into more serious dry eye treatment options, here are a few simple self-care options that can manage minor cases of dry eye.

• Blink regularly when reading or staring at a computer screen for a long time.

• Make sure there’s adequate humidity in the air at work and at home.

• Wear sunglasses outside to reduce sun and wind exposure. Wrap-around glasses are best.

• Take supplements with essential fatty acids, as these may decrease dry eye symptoms.

• Drink 8 to 10 glasses of water each day to avoid dehydration.

• Find out if any of your prescriptions have dry eye as a side effect, and if so, see if you can take an alternative.
   

Artificial Tears

For mild cases of dry eyes, the best option is over-the-counter eye drops. Here are a few tips for selecting the right one:

• Low viscosity – These artificial tears are watery. They often provide quick relief with little or no blurring of your vision, but their effect can be brief, and sometimes you must use these drops frequently to get adequate relief.

• High viscosity – These are more gel-like and provide longer-lasting lubrication. However, these drops can cause significant blurring of your vision for several minutes. For this reason, high-viscosity artificial tears are recommended at bedtime.
   

Prescription Dry Eye Treatments

There are several prescriptions that treat dry eye differently depending upon the specific problem of tear quality or quantity. Your eye doctor must first determine what type of dry eye you have and then can advise the best option for your situation.

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Dry Eye Procedures

• Punctal Plugs – Tear ducts can be plugged with tiny collagen or silicone plugs to reduce tear loss. By partially or completely closing your tear ducts, you can keep your tears from leaving your eye too quickly.

• Low Level Light Therapy (LLLT) – A non-invasive therapy that provides relief for dry eye. LLLT uses specific wavelengths of light to stimulate cellular activity and reduce inflammation in the eyes. This can help to improve the function of the meibomian glands and reduce the symptoms associated with dry eye.

• Tixel – A non-invasive treatment that applies brief pulses of controlled heat to the upper and lower eyelids. The goal is to improve the function of the meibomian glands, which produce the oily layer of tears.

You don’t have to suffer from the symptoms of dry eye. Talk to your optometrist about dry eye treatment options designed to address the underlying cause of your condition.
 

Through imaging of the meibomian glands, measuring osmolarity of the tear film, and screening for certain conditions, we are able to diagnose and provide treatment for the condition.
 

The first line of treatment for mild to moderate dry eye is OTC artificial tears, omega-3 fish oil, and lubricating ointment. For patients who are still suffering there are prescription options to help. Dry eye medications that we prescribe are Restasis, Xiidra, Cequa, Tyrvaya, Miebo, and Eyesuvis.
 

Here at Family Vision Center, P.A., we also offer meibomian gland expression, which is similar to a deep cleaning facial of your eyelid oil glands. We start with a heated low-level, red-light therapy mask which is used to melt the oil, similar to a steam facial. We then go in with special tools to exfoliate the dead skin cells that are blocking the gland openings and causing clogs, and manually express any hardened or stuck oil to create glands that will better function to prevent dry eye and styes.
 

For patients with Blepharitis, eyelid inflammation caused by clogged glands, and a buildup of bacteria, we have special in-office treatments to help get rid of any eyelid debris and have you leave with eyes that are less red and itchy.
 

Some corneal conditions are so severe that they need extra help healing. For this, we offer amniotic membranes. This is a special "band-aid" filled with stem cells that are placed on the eye to help the eye create new healthy cells. This is particularly helpful for patients with severe dry eye, infections, abrasions, or ulcers.

LLLT for Peri-Orbital Inflammation

Periorbital inflammation is caused by inflammation on the surface of the eye which can be triggered by a variety of factors. Often, periorbital inflammation is caused by blocked meibomian glands. These are the glands that make the oily, outer layer of the tears. A blockage in the glands can cause insufficiencies in tear film thickness, causing the tears to break apart when they shouldn't. Learn more about LLT below.

Learn More About LLLT

Tixel i 

Tixel i treatments focus on rejuvenating the eyelid glands so your tear layer is well-balanced and does not evaporate as quickly. Learn more about Tixel i below. 

Learn More About tixel i