Dry Eye Treatment

Dry Eye can have a major impact on your quality of life. You may find your eyes get tired faster or you have difficulty reading. Not to mention the discomfort of a burning sensation or blurry vision. Let’s take a look at dry eye treatments – from simple self-care to innovative prescriptions and therapies – to help you see clearly and comfortably.

What is Dry Eye?

Understanding dry eye will help you determine the best treatment option. Dry eye occurs when a person doesn't have enough quality tears to lubricate and nourish the eye. Tears reduce eye infections, wash away foreign matter, and keep the eye’s surface smooth and clear. People with dry eyes either do not produce enough tears or their tears are of poor quality. It’s a common and often chronic problem, especially in older adults.

Preventive Self-Care

Before we delve into more serious dry eye treatment options, here are a few simple self-care options that can manage minor cases of dry eye.

  • Blink regularly when reading or staring at a computer screen for a long time.
  • Make sure there’s adequate humidity in the air at work and at home.
  • Wear sunglasses outside to reduce sun and wind exposure. Wrap-around glasses are best.
  • Take supplements with essential fatty acids, as these may decrease dry eye symptoms.
  • Drink 8 to 10 glasses of water each day to avoid dehydration.
  • Find out if any of your prescriptions have dry eye as a side effect, and if so, see if you can take an alternative.

Artificial Tears

For mild cases of dry eyes, the best option is over-the-counter eye drops. Here are a few tips for selecting the right one:

  • Low viscosity – These artificial tears are watery. They often provide quick relief with little or no blurring of your vision, but their effect can be brief, and sometimes you must use these drops frequently to get adequate relief.
  • High viscosity – These are more gel-like and provide longer-lasting lubrication. However, these drops can cause significant blurring of your vision for several minutes. For this reason, high-viscosity artificial tears are recommended at bedtime.

Prescription Dry Eye Treatments

There are several prescriptions that treat dry eye differently. Your eye doctor can advise the best option for your situation.

  • Contact Lenses – There are specialty contact lenses that deliver moisture to the surface of the eye. They’re called scleral lenses or bandage lenses.
  • Antibiotics– If your eyelids are inflamed, this can prevent oil glands from secreting oil into your tears. Your doctor may recommend antibiotics to reduce inflammation.
  • Tear-stimulating drugs – Available as pills, gel, or eye drops, cholinergic (pilocarpine, cevimeline), these help to increase tear production.

Other Dry Eye Procedures

  • Punctal Plugs – Tear ducts can be plugged with tiny silicone plugs to reduce tear loss. By partially or completely closing your tear ducts, you can keep your tears from leaving your eye too quickly.
  • Intense-Pulsed Therapy – This utilizes pulses of light to liquefy and release hardened oils that have clogged glands in the eyelids.
​​​​​​​

You don’t have to suffer from the symptoms of dry eye. Talk to your optometrist about dry eye treatment options designed to address the underlying cause of your condition.

New & Effective Dry Eye Treatment with our Envision Device!

Envision is our state of the art, in-office device revolutionizing dry eye treatment in and around the eyes. This ground breaking, nonsurgical device, allows precise and effective treatment using technology with:

  • Forma-I: bipolar radiofrequency (RF)
  • Lumecca-I: intense pulsed light (IPL)
About Springfield Primary Eye Care

Forma-I Radiofrequency treatment (RF)
Our Forma Radiofrequency (RF) treatment uses energy to generate heat which is applied safely to the skin around the eyes. RF is usually followed by manual Meibomian Gland expression performed by your eye physician.

Forma Radiofrequency treatments can also be used to treat active styes and chronic, scarred nodules of the eyelid.

Benefits:

  • Stimulates new collagen formation reducing lid laxity, fine lines and wrinkles
  • Reduces inflammation
  • Opens up clogged meibomian glands, allowing for improved tear production and secretion.
Forma I - 1
Forma I - 2
Forma I - 3
Forma I - 4
Lemicca I

Lumecca Intense Pulse Light treatment (IPL)
Our Lumecca Intense Pulse Light (IPL) treatment works by applying powerful bursts of light to the skin which close off blood vessels that release inflammation. This in turn reduces inflammatory processes as well as pigmentation and redness, each in turn reducing the need for eye medications.

Benefits:

  • Treats Ocular Rosacea
  • Reduces Meibomian Gland Dysfunction
  • Treats Inflammatory Dry Eye
  • Treats Demodex Blepharitis
  • Eliminates Redness, Pigmentation and Age Spots
  • Treats most types of Acne (not cystic)
Lumecca I - 1
Lumecca I - 2
Lumecca I - 3

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

HOW MANY SESSIONS ARE RECOMMENDED?

Your provider will recommend the ideal number of sessions to be performed based on your personal condition. Treatment times and frequency will be specifically tailored to obtain the optimal results for each patient.

WHAT KIND OF POST-PROCEDURE CARE IS REQUIRED?

Most patients do not experience any side effects and any skin reaction typically resolves within a few hours. There is no recovery period or downtime associated with these procedures. We recommend continued moisturizer and sunscreen protection.

WHAT IS FORMA-I?

This is an innovative nonsurgical procedure that delivers bipolar radiofrequency (RF) technology to smaller, more delicate subdermal layers. Designed with unprecedented safety, the small size applicator, precision RF depth control, and intelligent temperature monitoring, ensure a safe non-drug alternative to dry eye and other treatments.

HOW DOES FORMA-I WORK?

Forma-I feels like a warm massage in the eye area, improving blood circulation. The small size applicator and precision RF depth control allow for treatment in small and delicate areas

WHAT IS LUMECCA-I?

Lumecca is the most powerful intense pulsed light (IPL) designed to treat pigmented and vascular lesions. Lumecca-I uses photothermolysis, which provides a photofacial through the delivery of a comfortable light treatment. IPL has been FDA approved for more than 15 years to remove superficial skin lesions.

HOW DOES LUMECCA-I WORK?

Lumecca-I creates tissue heating which helps to reduce inflammation. During treatment there will be a bright flash of light and a sensation on your skin that feels like a light snap from an elastic band. Redness and a slight warming of the skin are normal after treatment and usually subside within an hour.

WHAT CAN I EXPECT?

All treatments are performed right in your physician’s office. As a result, there is no general anesthesia, no incisions, or downtime that is associated with excisional interventions. Most clients find the treatments very comfortable. Your provider will discuss in detail with you the specifics of your customized treatment plan and how it will address your individual condition.

HOW SAFE ARE THESE TREATMENTS?

These treatments are recommended for patients who are seeking non-invasive procedures to address their symptoms. The small size applicators allow for treatment in small and delicate areas. These are very safe and effective procedures that can be used on all skin types and skin tones.

IS MY TREATMENT COVERED BY INSURANCE?

No, these treatments are not covered by any vision or medical insurance. We do have payment options such as Care Credit to assist, as well as bulk purchase specials.