Meibography, Fluorescein, Lid, and Lash Imaging.
Inspection and documentation of a dry eye disease is an essential part to initiate the best treatment for dry eyes. Our EyeCam® provides images and videos in 4K utilizing a medical Sony® sensor.
Meibography of the upper and lower lids are captured using near infrared illumination.
Fluorescein images and videos measuring Tear Break Up Time utilize blue excitation illumination along with Wratten style filter capture details for the dry eye evaluation.
Lid and lash margin imaging take advantage of our full spectrum illumination to capture the finest details.
Possible Symptoms of Dry Eyes:
Burning, scratchy, red, watery, discomfort, heaviness, fatigue, aching, contacts get more uncomfortable as the day progresses, and inflammation.
What causes Dry Eyes?
Tears are made up of water, oils and mucus. Tears form a slick and smooth layer to bend light more precisely for better clarity of vision, and also form a protective barrier from the environment. When you cannot produce enough tears or the correct composition of tears, you get dry eyes. The most common reasons for disrupting the composition of tears or cause of decrease in production are: a change in hormones, excessive time on computers and electronic devices, spending time outdoors, inability to blink completely or frequently, cannot close your eyelids completely when you sleep, CPAP machine usage, medications that dry out your eyes, chronic eyelid infection, clogged meibomian glands, allergies, use a ceiling fan, A/C, heater, etc…
What are some available treatments?
- Preservative Free Artificial Tears (Retaine MGD, Oasis Tears)
- Warm Eye Compress treatment packs and lid cleaners
- BlephEx (ultrasonic cleaning of the eye lid margins)
- TearCare (warms the lids and expresses the meibomian glands so that they can work better and slow them down from dying off). More information on TearCare is below
- Prescription eye drops such as: Cequa, Restasis, Xiidra, and anti-inflammatory drops
- Nutritional supplements: Essential Fatty Acids
- Blink exercises
- Sleep goggles/shields
- Punctal Plugs
What is TearCare®?
- TearCare® is a tool that applies heat to the eyelids to remove blockage associated with Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (and may be associated with Dry Eyes and Blepharitis)
- Personalized open-eye in-office procedure designed to target the underlying cause of evaporative dry eye
- Fits comfortably to the unique shape of your eyes and harnesses the power of the natural blink
- After the thermal procedure, Dr. Gong and associates will gently clear the blocked meibum from your eyelids using a special pair of forceps
Your Tear Film
3 Layers:
- Oil (the oil layer comes from meibum produced by glands in your eyelid)
- Aqueous (a watery layer)
- Mucus
Meibomian Glands:
The Key to the Oil Layer
Tearcare in Office:
Ultra-precise Clearance of the Meibomian Glands
Take the Dry Eyes Test
Questions about EYE DISCOMFORT:
a. During a typical day in the past month, how often did your eyes feel discomfort?
b. When your eyes felt discomfort, how intense was this feeling of discomfort at the end of the day, within two hours of going to bed?
Questions about EYE DRYNESS:
a. During a typical day in the past month, how often did your eyes feel dry?
b. When your eyes felt dry, how intense was this feeling of dryness at the end of the day, within two hours of going to bed?
Questions about WATERY EYES:
a. During a typical day in the past month, how often did your eyes look or feel excessively watery?
Dry Eyes Questionaire
Congratulations, Your Eyes are Perfectly Fine!
In a healthy eye, the lens is clear and allows light to pass through. Light is focused by the cornea and lens onto a thin layer of tissue called the retina. The retina works like the film in a camera. When light hits the retina, tiny cells collect the light signals, and convert them into electrical signals, which are then sent through the optic nerve and to the brain, where they are processed into the images we see.
Mild Dry Eyes
For mild cases of dry eyes caused by computer use, reading, schoolwork and other situational causes, the best dry eye treatment may simply be frequent use of artificial tears or other lubricating eye drops. Artificial tears usually are the first step in dry eye treatment.
Severe Dry Eyes
See your doctor if you've had prolonged signs and symptoms of dry eyes, including red, irritated, tired or painful eyes. Your doctor can take steps to determine what's bothering your eyes or refer you to a specialist.
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