Why LipiFlow Could Help Your Dry Eyes
December 11, 2023
Do your eyes feel dry? You're not alone.
Dry eyes are far more common than you may think. But there's more to dry eyes than dryness. Dry eyes can feel like they're burning, itchy, stinging, or like they have grit in them.
You can experience dry eye for a multitude of reasons, including dry weather, improper contact lens use, dehydration, and poor nutrition. These things can all make your eyes feel drier than usual, leading to symptoms associated with dry eyes.
But sometimes, the cause of dry eyes is due to having a chronic condition called dry eye syndrome. For people with dry eye syndrome, making simple environmental and lifestyle changes may not be enough to alleviate dry eye symptoms.
However, there are non-invasive professional treatments that can address the root cause of the eye condition. One of these treatments is LipiFlow.
Keep reading to learn more about dry eye syndrome, its causes, and why LipiFlow could help your dry eyes!
What is Dry Eye Syndrome?
Dry eye syndrome is a chronic condition caused by inadequate tear production or the tears produced are not sufficient quality. Your eyes are constantly making tears that keep the surface of the eye lubricated.
Your eyes have a tear film with three components: water, mucus, and oil. If you're missing any of these components, your tears will not have the necessary nutrients to keep your eyes healthy.
The tear film also helps flush out harmful contaminants like bacteria and particles to keep your eyes working properly. If your tears are not lubricating your eyes as they should, the surface of your eyes will suffer, leading to symptoms of irritation and discomfort.
Untreated dry eye syndrome can lead to infection, corneal ulcers, and corneal scarring, which can ultimately cause significant vision loss. Dry eye syndrome is a prevalent eye condition, especially in older adults and women.
It's particularly prevalent in women going through hormonal changes from pregnancy or menopause, as well as older patients who have inflammatory skin conditions like rosacea. But it can affect anyone, regardless of their gender or pre-existing conditions.
If your eyes constantly feel dry, it could be due to dry eye syndrome, making it essential to see your eye doctor to receive a diagnosis and treatment.
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What is Meibomian Gland Dysfunction?
It's often difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of dry eye syndrome. However, one of the most common causes is meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD).
Your tears have three different components: mucus, aqueous (water), and lipids (oil). When you have dry eyes, it's usually due to an imbalance of these components.
Meibomian gland dysfunction specifically affects the lipid component of your tears. The meibomian glands produce the lipids in your tears.
Lipids act like a protective oil layer on the outside of your tears. Meibomian gland dysfunction occurs when these glands become blocked, so they don't produce enough oil.
Your tears then lack this protective layer, resulting in your tears evaporating too quickly from the surface of your eyes. Luckily, there is a treatment for meibomian gland dysfunction available at Maryland Eye Associates called LipiFlow.
What is LipiFlow?
LipiFlow is a non-invasive therapy for dry eye syndrome that uses gentle light and heat to soften blocked meibomian glands. Softening the blocked meibomian glands allows lipids to flow and improves oil flow.
By allowing oil to flow freely, LipiFlow helps alleviate the symptoms of dry eye syndrome. Using LipiFlow helps to balance the components of your tears, ensuring your tears will stay in your eyes longer without evaporating too quickly.
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How LipiFlow Works
Before using LipiFlow to treat dry eyes, your ophthalmologist will use its diagnostic system. The diagnostic system uses image scanning to closely examine the meibomian glands.
This system allows your Maryland Eye Associates eye doctor to see if your meibomian glands are blocked. As evaporative dry eye syndrome is quite common, you likely have at least some degree of blockage if you have dry eye syndrome.
However, the diagnosis will confirm the issue to ensure that the LipiFlow treatment is, in fact, the best treatment for your dry eye syndrome. Once diagnosed, LipiFlow therapy takes about 12 minutes to complete.
You'll have dome-shaped activators placed on top of your closed eyelids. These activators use Vector Thermal Pulsation technology to emit heat and light pressure.
By emitting this heat and pressure gently on top of your eyes, LipiFlow can soften blocked meibomian glands, allowing oil to flow from them again.
Patients often notice a difference right away after LipiFlow treatment. However, some patients don't experience dry eye symptom relief for two weeks after their first treatment. The treatment can be repeated if needed.
It can take some time for the meibomian glands to catch up with oil production. However, most patients experience significantly improved dry eye syndrome symptoms after LipiFlow treatment.
LipiFlow Candidates
Most patients with dry eye syndrome make good LipiFlow candidates. It is essential to get diagnosed with dry eye syndrome before treatment.
If you have dry eye symptoms, see your eye doctor to receive a confirmed diagnosis. If you have dry eye syndrome, LipiFlow will likely help your dry eyes and bring much-needed relief.
However, the diagnostic imaging system will confirm whether LipiFlow is the best treatment. Because LipiFlow is a minimally invasive treatment, there are very few risks, and it's safe for most people.
If you don't have meibomian gland dysfunction, however, LipiFlow may not be as effective. In that case, your eye doctor may suggest an alternative treatment.
Do you think you could have dry eyes? Find out by requesting an appointment at Maryland Eye Associates in Prince Frederick, MD, now! Why wait when you could finally get the relief you've been looking for?