Dry Eye Treatment
Dry eye is a common condition that occurs when your tears aren’t able to provide adequate lubrication for your eyes, due to a reduction in the quality or quantity of tears. This tear film comprises three layers that work together to keep your eyes moist and protected. The top oily layer helps to prevent evaporation of tears. The middle, watery layer is the thickest layer and the sticky bottom layer helps the tear film to adhere to the eye. If anything upsets the tear film it can become unstable or evaporate. This results in dryness and inflammation of the cornea (front of the eye).
What are common symptoms?
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Red, scratchy, sore, or gritty eyes
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Burning or stinging sensations
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A feeling of having something in your eyes
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Crusty eyes (excessive ‘sleep’ in the eye)
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Blurred vision that changes after a blink
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Eyes feel ‘heavy’, tired or fatigued
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Watery eyes
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Difficulty wearing contact lenses comfortably
What causes dry eyes?
Dry eyes are caused by a lack of adequate tears. For some people, the cause is decreased tear production. For others it’s increased tear evaporation and/or an imbalance in the composition of your tears.
There are many factors that increase your risk of developing dry eye or may exacerbate your symptoms.
How is dry eye diagnosed?
An optometrist is the best person to diagnose dry eye. Ask for a dry eye assessment and we shall conduct a thorough investigation of your dry eye including assessing tear production and evaporation. We shall also get you to perform a dry eye questionnaire to investigate how much dry eye is affecting your quality of life.
How is dry eye managed?
Dry eye is a chronic condition that we can never eliminate but we can improve your symptoms. Treatment options depends on the type and severity of your dry eyes, as well as by identifying the cause of the dry eye and personalising a care plan. This can include environmental modification, daily lubricating eye drops or gels, warm compresses and short doses of anti-inflammatory drops or creams. Other options include omega-3 supplements to help reduce inflammation of the tear oil glands and sealed glasses that help avoid evaporation of the tears. Recently, a new technique called intense-pulsed light therapy (IPL) followed by a massage of the eyelids has proven to help some people with severe dry eyes.
IPL Treatment
We are the only practice in the Illawarra to have a Lumenis IPL machine. This device is the latest high-tech instrument for dry eye management. IPL stands for Intense-Pulsed Light and allows us to perform light-based treatments to your eyes and face to stimulate the release and production of oils from clogged oil glands, which help to trap tears on the eye. Using these natural oils, reduces dry eye symptoms. It can also reduce the redness and inflammation of small abnormal blood vessels called telangiectasia that are associated with rosacea. Rosacea is a common associated condition to dry eye.
Not everyone is a suitable candidate for this treatment, which is why a thorough assessment is performed in our initial appointments to decide if this is a suitable treatment for you.