‘Tis the Season to Fall for IRPL and Say Bye to Dry Eyes!

We are midway through September, and there is a crisp, drier change to the air. Despite the seasonal changes, you may have been struggling with dry eyes, especially if you spend lots of time working in front of a computer or spend lots of time outdoors.

Dry Eye Disease develops when your natural tears can’t keep up with your eye’s lubrication needs because of poor quality tears, a decrease in tear production, or an increase in tear evaporation. We have unique structures in our eyes designed to maintain tear integrity called Meibomian Glands. These neat little oil glands line the edges of our eyelids, and their job is to secrete oil to coat the surface of our eyes in order to keep the water in our tears from evaporating. When they don’t produce enough oil, they become dysfunctional. As a result, Meibomian gland dysfunction has been identified as one of the main causes of Dry Eye Disease.

Dry Eye is certainly uncomfortable, but the associated inflammation can also lead to eye infections and damage to the eye’s surface. It also creates many pesky symptoms that can have a negative effect on our quality of life, such as eye fatigue, blurred vision, light sensitivity, and stinging, burning, or scratching sensations in the eye. If you’re struggling with parched peepers our Dry Eye Clinic is the place for you. During your visit with us be sure to mention to your Doctor of Optometry if you’re struggling with dry eyes because we can help!

We offer several treatments to remedy dry eyes in our new Dry Eye Clinic at Merivale Vision Care, but the most formative in healing Dry Eye Disease is the E>Eye IRPL device. IRPL stands for Intense Regulated Pulsed Light, and our new E>Eye is the first medical device in the world using IRPL technology that has been specifically designed for the treatment of dry eyes due to Meibomian gland dysfunction. The E>Eye device uses light pulses to stimulate the Meibomian glands to make more oil, which helps to relieve all those irritating dry eye symptoms. We have several patients who have commented on how relaxing the treatment is and have noticed an improvement in symptoms within hours of their treatment. Two important notes: one, if you have a tan, speak with your Optometrist to see if this treatment is right for you. Two, you must use sunscreen diligently until all treatments are complete and at a minimum, for the following two weeks after to protect your skin.

We also offer treatments using the Eye-light® device. The Eye-light® offers, blue, yellow, and red light to treat the eye for different ocular surface diseases. We focus on using Low-Level Light Therapy (LLLT), a red light to help heal Dry Eye Disease, as well as heal the eyelids. We often partner LLLT in conjunction with IRPL therapy, as the two partnered together can yield incredible results. LLLT can be safely performed on all patients, independent of skin pigmentation, and directly treats the eyelids and surrounding eye area to reduce dry eye and heal ocular surface disease. A side bonus is that it can bolster collagen production in and around the eye area, resulting in a refreshed look.  

Ready to turn up the humidity in your tears? Wear your shades, use some hydrating eyedrops, and book with us now. We will help you put Dry Eye Disease in your rear-view mirror.