Dry Eye
If you experience any of these issues every now and then you may benefit from a visit to Eye Care Center of Waverly:
- Dryness
- Discomfort and irritation
- Grittiness or feeling of a foreign body in the eye
- Burning or stinging sensation
- Redness
- Discharge
- Tiredness
- Itching
- Vision disturbance
- Sensitivity to light
Treat The Cause
Individuals with moderate to severe dry eye encounter great discomfort and seek new approaches from traditional therapies, which only offer minimal symptomatic relief. Eye care physicians are equally discouraged with the restricted tools offered to properly diagnose and treat dry eye.
How Dry Eye Affects You
What are a few of the risk factors for Evaporative Dry Eye? Hormonal changes in women during menopause especially decreasing levels of estrogen can cause coagulation of the oils secreted by the meibomian glands, which leads to blockages. Decreased estrogen levels may enhance conditions under which staphylococcal bacteria can proliferate in the meibomian glands. This leads to a decreased oil secretion rate. Additional factors that may cause or exacerbate meibomian gland dysfunction include age, contact lens use and hygiene, cosmetic use, and illnesses, particularly diabetes.
How Dry Eye can negatively impact your vision and your life
The symptoms of Dry Eye can be uncomfortable and a big burden. Standard visual tasks, like reading, using a computer, driving or watching television may become difficult. Wearing contact lenses may be impossible. And, you might find that symptoms get worse later in the day, keeping you from enjoying the activities you want to do. Underlying the considerable discomfort is a real physical condition that needs treatment to stop the cycle of Dry Eye deterioration and worsening symptoms.
Dry Eye is a chronic disease and without proper management, the deterioration may look like this:
- Unstable tear film
- Damage to the eye surface
- Further discomfort
- Inflammation and cell damage
- Fluctuation and decrease in vision
What Is Evaporative Dry Eye?
There are two main forms dry eye: evaporative and aqueous deficient. Evaporative Dry Eye is a persistent disorder that can get worse over time. It occurs when the water in your tears evaporates faster than normal, due to an unsatisfactory lipid (oil) layer on the tear film of your eye. Current research shows that almost 85% of patients with dry eye have some evaporative component. This unsatisfactory oil is often due to clogged meibomian glands, which release health oil with each full blink of the eyelid.
Most current forms of dry eye treatment on the market today aim to treat aqueous deficient dry eye (artificial tears, punctal plugs, Restasis, lubricating gels, moisture goggles). Only the LipiFlow System provides the correct amount and placement of heat necessary to treat evaporative dry eye. Many doctors in the past have recommended the use of warm compresses. While this form of treatment begins to address the issue of evaporative dry eye, it does have it’s own drawbacks. The blood vessels surrounding the eyelid quickly whisk away heat applied in the form of a warm compress over the eye, as this external heat source can damage the eye. A thick plate called the tarsal plate also separates the external heat source, allowing very little heat to actually reach the meibomian glands. Lastly, the amount of heat often necessary to penetrate past this plate is enough to cause heat damage and burning to the cornea.