Dry Eye Treatments

Dry eyes 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.

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. Wraparound 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

Several prescriptions treat dry eye differently. Your eye doctor can advise the best option for your situation.

• Antibiotics– If your eyelids are inflamed, this can prevent oil glands from secreting oil into your tears. Your doctor may recommend antibiotics to reduce inflammation.

• Anti-inflammatory drugs – These are eye drops to control inflammation on the surface of your eyes (cornea) using the immune-suppressing medication cyclosporine (Restasis) or corticosteroids.

• Tear-stimulating drugs – Available as pills, gel or eye drops, cholinergic (pilocarpine, cevimeline), these help to increase tear production.

Collagen Plugs

Punctal plugs are tiny devices that are placed in the eye’s tear ducts, called puncta, which drain tears from your eyes. This plug insertion blocks tears from draining from the eye. Plugs help keep the eye’s surface moist and comfortable.

LLLT

Originally researched and developed by NASA, low level light therapy uses specifically designed LED lights to gently warm the eyelids, causing the meibomian glands to unclog and release oils. Quick and painless, it also can help decrease the appearance of facial wrinkles, ace, and rosacea.

IPL

Intense Pulse Light, also known as IPL, is intense pulses of non-coherent light distributed over a range of wavelengths from 400 nm to 1200 nm. Utilizing specific wavelengths, this is an effective treatment for meibomian gland dysfunction while also having aesthetic offerings of treating rosacea, wrinkles, and other skin conditions.

Mibo Thermoflo

The MiBo Thermoflo is a therapeutic medical device providing a safe and effective alternative therapy for dry eyes. It uses a proprietary thermoelectric heat pump to help maximize liquefaction of meibum, thus improving preservation and function of the evaporative component of the tear film.The MiBo Thermoflo supplies continuous controlled heat that is applied to the outer skin of the eyelids along with ultrasound gel for a gentle massage. The heat is absorbed deep into the tissue and breaks down the hardened lipids in the meibomian glands.

Lid Pro

Blepharitis is a condition that causes inflammation of the oil glands in the eyelids. The condition is a common cause of dry eyes. Treating Anterior blepharitis, the LidPro is the perfect tool to help. Its ergonomic design allows for comfort when treating both upper and lower eyelids. Using silicone disposable textured cleaning discs with fast spinning action will effectively exfoliate the eyelid margin with only a few passes. Less friction being needed in cleaning results in less irritation and more comfort for the patient.