IPL stands for intense pulsed light therapy. Your eye doctor can use the advanced technology of the IPL device to help improve your dry eye symptoms.
One major cause of dry eye syndrome is meibomian gland dysfunction. The meibomian glands produce oil that keeps the tear film from evaporating too quickly.
When they become blocked, the glands are unable to produce that oil. Without it, the quality of tears can be compromised, leading to the development of dry eye syndrome.
Your eye doctor can use the IPL treatment to improve MGD and dry eye syndrome by targeting their root causes. IPL sends pulses of light to the skin around the eyes.
These light pulses can lower inflammation, kill bacteria, and stimulate the meibomian glands. Once stimulated, the meibomian glands can produce oils again and improve the tear quality.
By improving the quality of your tears, IPL relieves dry eye symptoms. This treatment can also improve your cosmetic appearance.
The IPL treatment can reduce the signs of aging and skin discoloration and allow you to feel and look like your best self.
Optilight is the first and only IPL therapy device approved by the FDA to treat dry eye syndrome caused by meibomian gland dysfunction. The same company that pioneered original IPL treatments, Lumenis, created Optilight.
Optilight allows you to part with irritating dry eye symptoms like burning or gritty eyes. The Optilight device works by utilizing Optimal Pulse Technology to:
Through the Optilight treatment, you may be able to reduce your dry eye symptoms. It can also allow you to reduce your need for alternative therapies.
You can look forward to long-lasting results and life without eye irritation.
In addition to being highly effective, treatment with the Optilight is comfortable.
During therapy with Optilight, you will likely feel a warm sensation from the gentle pulses of light. The procedure itself is quick, only taking about 15 minutes.
There is typically no recovery period needed, and you can get back to your busy life right away.
MGD occurs when there is a compromise to the function and/or structure of the Meibomian glands. These glands, located in the eyelids, produce the protective oily (lipid) layer of the tear film. This oil helps protect the surface of the eye from disease and prevents the watery part of the tears from evaporating when your eyes are open. Without these oils, the eyes become more susceptible to the negative effects that dry climates, air conditioning, computer use, reading and other daily activities can have on the long-term health of our eyes. When these glands are blocked, tears don’t stay in the eye. They drip or evaporate, causing burning, tearing, grittiness, and possibly corneal damage over time.
LipiFlow® is a treatment performed in your doctor’s office designed to remove blockages from the Meibomian glands, allowing them to properly function and produce the oils that make up the top protective lipid layer of the tear film. LipiFlow® is supported by more than 30 patents with studies demonstrating its safe and effective results. It is designed to minimize patient discomfort during a 12-minute treatment that gently warms and massages the eyelids. OIl blockages are removed and the glands are gently massaged, allowing for free-flowing oil to the tear film layer.
LipiFlow® Activators are single-use sterile devices that safely and comfortably deliver a combination of heat to the inner lids and simultaneous therapeutic motion to the outer lids, removing blockages from the Meibomian glands. The Activators are contoured to avoid contact with the cornea, protecting the delicate structures of the eye.
Once the gland blockages are removed, the glands can resume normal oil or lipid production. This oil is essential for a healthy tear film, providing stable vision and ocular comfort. As normal gland function recovers, maximum results are usually experienced 6-8 weeks after treatment. After treatment, we strongly suggest lid hygiene wipes, DERM mask use, Omega-3 supplements, and blinking exercises to keep your glands free and clear for the longest time possible.
The TearCare® System is intended for the application of localized heat therapy in adult patients with evaporative dry eye disease due to meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), when used in conjunction with manual expression of the meibomian glands.
For patients suffering from blepharitis, we offer the BlephEx procedure to remove biofilm and debris from the lids. BlephEx is a painless procedure that uses a micro-sponge on the edges of your lashes and eyelids to get rid of debris and bacteria. BlephEx® prevents inflammation of your tear glands and chronic dry eye syndrome.
