Dry Eye Therapy

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Keep Your Eyes Clear & Comfortable

Dry eyes can negatively impact your day. Not only will they affect your sight and comfort, but they can also impact your productivity at work or school. Fortunately, Dr. Mei-Ling Chan Optometry is well equipped with cutting edge diagnostic and treatment options to help manage your dry eye symptoms, to get you back to living with healthier, more comfortable eyes.

If you want to know how we can help alleviate your dry eyes, don’t hesitate to book an appointment with us today.

Dry Eyes: What Do You Need to Know

Dry eyes, or ocular surface disease, is a chronic and progressive condition that occurs when our tear film becomes unstable, due to inadequate quantity or quality of tears. The result is discomfort, inflammation, and potentially, corneal damage. The underlying cause of your dry eyes must be determined prior to prescribing a course of action.

Dry eyes don’t just affect post-menopausal women; its prevalence has been increasing by leaps and bounds as digital devices infiltrate our work and personal lives, starting from today’s preschoolers to baby boomers.

Some of the most common symptoms of dry eyes include:

Stinging, burning, or scratchy feeling
Gritty feeling; like something is in your eyes
Eye redness
Overly watery, teary eyes
Episodic blurred vision
Eye fatigue or tired feeling
Light sensitivity
Difficulty driving at night
Difficulty wearing contact lenses
Stringy mucus in or around your eyes
Difficulty focusing or paying attention to anything other than your eye discomfort

Experiencing any of these symptoms could mean you are suffering from dry eyes. The next course of action is to visit your optometrist.

What Causes Dry Eyes?

Knowing the root cause for your dry eyes can help your optometrist find the right management plan for you. Some of the most common causes include:

Ageing
Side effects from medications or medical conditions
Laser eye surgery
Improperly fitting contact lenses
Infrequent blinking
Blepharitis and meibomianitis (inflammation of the eyelid)
Allergies

Depending on the cause of your dry eyes, your optometrist will tailor your treatment to you.

Find Out Which Treatment is Right For You

Intense Pulsed Light (IPL)

Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) describes the use of intense pulses of non-coherent light distributed over a range of wavelengths; from 400nm to 1200nm. It is a drug free, drop free light-based treatment that targets the root causes of dry eyes – chronic inflammation. IPL stops the vicious cycle of inflammation by reducing inflammatory mediators, alleviates abnormal blood vessels that are perpetuating the inflammation and decreases demodex mites which stimulating infection leading to inflammation.

iLux

Users of digital devices blink less. This decreased blink rate limits the ability of the meibomian glands in the eyelids to release oil (meibum) and the lids to properly disperse it. Over time, the oil in these glands becomes stagnant and solidifies. Meibomian gland dysfunction is the most common cause of dry eyes, so removing the obstruction is the key to treating dry eyes.

The iLux is a device used in the office to help therapeutically warm, melt, and express the oil built-up in the meibomian glands. The treatment is comfortable and takes just a few minutes.

Heating Masks & Eyelid Scrubs

Similar to the iLux, heating masks and warm compresses are also used to melt the meibum that may be contributing to meibomian glands blockages.

Eyelid scrubs are used in conjunction with heat to remove the buildup of bacteria on the eyelid margins.

Blephaclean, Blephagel, Blephadex

Biofilm is a layer of microorganisms that forms on the surface of our eyelids. It prevents the removal of pathogens (harmful bacteria and demodex mites) that would normally be removed by the eyes’ natural blink mechanism.

Blephaclean, blephagel, and blephadex are lid hygiene products that help remove the biofilm and, more importantly, the harmful organisms that contribute to dry eye symptoms.

Blephaclean and Blephadex are both wipes designed to help clear the biofilm and reduce inflammation.

Artificial Tears

There are a variety of eye drops available to help patients control their dry eye symptoms. Some of the ones recommended by Dr. Chan are Thealoz Duo, iDrop, HYLO, and Ocunox.

Find Relief Today

You don’t have to live with dry eyes, we can help. Contact us today to book an appointment.

We’re Looking Forward to Seeing You!

We are conveniently located in the Eagle Ridge Medical Complex on Huronia Road, with plenty of paid parking ($3 for the whole day) available during office hours.