Dry Eye Treatment

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. Pure & Clean Lid Prep is often recommended in our office as a beginning step to treat dry eye because it eliminates the bacterial biofilm and neutralizes enzymes that destabilize your tear film.  There are many artificial tears on the market that work in different ways.  Some are watery and provide quick relief while others are thicker and may blur your vision.  Your doctor will recommend the drops that are best for treating the type of dry eye you have.
 

Prescription Dry Eye Treatments

There are several prescriptions that treat dry eye differently. Your eye doctor can advise the best option for your situation.

• Contact Lenses – There are specialty contact lenses that deliver moisture to the surface of the eye. They’re called scleral lenses or bandage lenses.

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

• Tear-stimulating drops – These drops can be used to increase tear production.

Dry Eye Procedures

• Punctal Plugs – Tear ducts can be plugged with tiny dissolvable plugs to reduce tear loss. This helps keep your tears from leaving your eye too quickly.

• LipiFlow Thermal Pulsation – This treatment helps to unblock oil glands. Placed over your eye, the device delivers a gentle, warm massage to the lower eyelid for about 15 minutes.

  • Please note that we do not offer LipiFlow treatment in our office, but we are happy to provide a referral!

• Intense-Pulsed Therapy – This utilizes pulses of light to liquefy and release hardened oils that have clogged glands in the eyelids.

  • Please note that we do not offer LipiFlow treatment in our office, but we are happy to provide a referral!

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.