Dry Eye Treatment

While dry eye isn’t a serious condition, it 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 poor quality. It’s a common and often chronic problem, especially in older adults.

What is Meibomian Gland Dysfunction?

Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is a prevalent condition characterized by inadequate production of oil (meibum) by the meibomian glands, or when the quality of the oil is compromised. MGD often serves as an underlying cause for both dry eye syndrome and blepharitis, conditions affecting the comfort and health of the eyes.

This dysfunction arises when the meibomian glands become obstructed by thick secretions, impeding the normal flow of oil. Consequently, the quantity of oil decreases, and the oil that manages to flow may be of poor quality, potentially leading to irritation.

MGD may initially manifest without noticeable symptoms. However, left untreated, it can progress, resulting in dry eye symptoms and inflammation of the eyelids. In chronic cases of MGD, where the glands remain consistently blocked or clogged, the secretion of oil becomes severely impaired. This can lead to permanent damage in the tear film and the onset of dry eye syndrome. The risk of developing MGD escalates with age, particularly among individuals aged 40 and older.

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. Wraparound 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 Care – TearCare is a dry eye treatment that targets Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), which is the leading cause of dry eye syndrome. Tears are composed of three layers, a mucus layer, a water layer, and an oil layer. Any dysfunction of these components can cause tear instability, which leads to dry eye. Meibomian gland dysfunction occurs when there’s a problem with the glands in your eyelid that creates the oil layer of your tears. TearCare is a wearable eyelid technology that is administered in the optometrist’s office. The device is placed on the patient’s upper and lower eyelids, allowing the patient’s eyes to remain open and blink throughout the procedure. The TearCare device then administers gentle heat to the Meibomian glands to liquefy the meibum, removing blockages and stimulating tear production. The process takes about two and a half minutes.

• Anti-inflammatory drugs – These are eye drops to control inflammation on the surface of your eyes (cornea) using the immune-suppressing medication cyclosporine (Restasis) or corticosteroids.

• Eye Inserts – If artificial tears don't help, another option may be a tiny eye insert. Once a day, you place the hydroxypropyl cellulose (Lacrisert) insert between your lower eyelid and your eyeball. It dissolves slowly, releasing a substance to lubricate your eye.

• Tear-stimulating drugs – Available as pills, gel or eye drops, cholinergic (pilocarpine, cevimeline), these help to increase tear production.

• Autologous blood serum drops – For serious dry eye that’s not responding to other treatment, these eyedrops are made with a sample of your blood. It’s processed to remove the red blood cells and then mixed with a salt solution.

• Dry eye masks –Bruder offers a complete line of dry eye treatments. Click here to read more about their dry eye masks.

​​​​​​​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, it can keep your tears from leaving your eye too quickly.

• LipiFlow Thermal Pulsation – This treatment helps to unblock oil glands. Placed over your eye, the device delivers a gentle, warm massage to the lower eyelid over about 15 minutes.

• 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.