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Dry Eye Treatment

As a clinically trained and passionate dry eye specialist, Dr. Gill has taken on new and innovate ways to treat our eyes for todays world. Dr. Gill has developed methods and combinations of treatments that have helped many patients struggling with dry eyes. These methods go beyond the normal eye doctor mentality of giving samples of artifical tears and moving on.

Tailored dry eye treatment

Lipid(Oily) layer: Lubricates and prevents evaporation

Aqueous(Water) layer: Nourishes and protects your cornea

Mucin Layer: Helps adhere the tears to the cornea

Meibomian Glands: Creates the lipid (oily) layer of the tears.

Do you have Dry Eyes? 

Probably... with the demand on our eyes with computers and devices our blink rate and eye health is being severely compromised. Common symptoms include:

  • Fluctuating vision

  • Excessive blinking

  • Constant feeling something is in the eye

  • Redness

  • Itching

  • Lids sticking together

  • Discharge

  • Light sensitivity

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"They only work for a few seconds!"

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- Most patients (talking about eyedrops)

Evaporative Dry Eye

Evaportive dry eye means that the oily top layer of our tear film is depleted and causes the watery part of our tears to evaporate too quickly. This type of dry eye is usually caused my blocked glands on our eye lids that produce the oily part of our tears. Theses glands can be blocked for a number of reasons including:

  • Prolonged periods on the computer or digital device

  • Systemic diseases (Rosacea)

  • Allergies/dust

  • Makeup/oily skin

Aqueous  Dry Eye

Aqueous dry eye means that the watery or moisture layer of your tear film is deficient. This layer is the majority of the tear film and usually coincides with evaportive dry eye. However Aqueous alone can be caused by the following

  • Aging

  • Autoimmune diseases (Sjogrens/Lupus/Thyroid)

  • After surgery (LASIK/Cataract Surgery)

Types of Dry Eye

Step-by-Step Dry Eye Treatment

1. Amniotic Membrane

Using drops over and over again is worthless if you cornea is not healthy. This membrane is made from live stem cells that help the fill in any dead cells on your cornea, creating a nice smooth cornea and eliminates friction with blinking. Putting artificial tears, prescription dry eye drops or any other dry eye treatment temporarily fills in parts of your cornea to facilitate comfortable blinking, while this membrane actually brings the cornea together and strengthens it, allow other treatments to be be more effective. This is the foundation for proper dry eye treatment.
 

2. Thermal 1 Touch Technology 

Roanoke Eyecare has Thermal 1 technology for in-house treatment of meibomian glad dysfunction. The glands in our eyes get blocked or they don't express the oils that keep our eyes moist as often when we are on digital devices. Eye glands only release oil when we blink and with computer use, our blink rate goes from 21 times per minute to 12-15 times per minute!

Thermal 1 dry eye treatment

Above is the Thermal 1 Touch device. This device provides targeted direct and sustained heat for 10 minutes. The temperature and duration is perfectly calibrated to allow the glands to be expressed and release all the trapped debris. Watch the video below to see how the procedure is performed.

3. Punctal Plugs

Punctal plugs are a very tried and true method for dry eye relief. The simplicity is effectively the reason this treatment is so widely used. Dry eye in its basic form means one does not have adequate tears or not enough tears. This method targets the ladder by essentially blocking the puncta (a hole on the eye lid where tears drain). By blocking the drainage the tears stay on the eye providing more moisture.

Amniotic membranes for dry eye
Expression of glands to relieve dry eye

Meibomian gland dysfunction, notice the glands are releaseing a almost toothpaste like mucus when they are supposed to be releasing a serum similar to the consistency of olive oil.

Treatment of MGD (Meibomian gland dysfunction)

Normal functioning glands releasing a slightly yellow to clear liquid. Glands in this photo are representitive of glands treated with thermal 1 technology. 

Punctal plugs for dry eye treatment
Contact lenses to treat dryness?

Scleral lenses are the latest and greatest innovation in contact lenses. These contacts unlike normal soft lenses actually are used as a treatment for dryness instead of promoting more dryness. These lenses are large and totally vault the cornea. Scleral lenses are filled with liquid to constantly bathe eyes in tears to help treat dryness and maintain good moisture and corneal health. 

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Check out Contact Lenses for more information

Get rid of contacts during the day all together? Ask about Myopia management
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