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 Accent Eye Care Dry Eyes
Take the Dry Eyes Test
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