Dry Eye Treatment In California

The premiere Ortho-K & Myopia Control Center of San Fernando Valley

Reseda 📞 818-345-2010

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WHAT IS DRY EYE SYNDROME?

Dry eye or dry eye syndrome is a multifactorial disease of the tears and ocular surface that results in symptoms of discomfort, irritation, foreign body sensation, redness, and fluctuating vision.

There are two types of dry eyes - evaporative and aqueous deficient. In an evaporative dry eye, the tears on the eyes are evaporating too quickly and thus are not there to lubricate the surface of your eyes. In aqueous deficient dry eye, not enough tears are being made by the body to maintain the health of your eyes. Most dry eye syndrome is a combination of both types.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I HAVE DRY EYES?

Tears are made up of three components, a disruption in any of the components can lead to signs and symptoms of dry eyes. The aqueous layer is our water layer, this keeps our eyes hydrated. The oil layer is produced by our oil glands that are underneath the skin on both our top and bottom lid. The oil layer...

WHAT CAUSES DRY EYES?

Environmental factors can also exacerbate dry eyes. These include:

Not blinking enough - blinking activates our oil and tear glands. If blinking is inconsistent, our oil glands can become clogged. Did you know that studies show that blink rate reduces when you are on the computer?

Low humidity - unfortunately California is has a very dry climate which increases the likelihood of dry eyes

Windy environments

Contact lenses - soft contact lenses use tears from our eyes to keep the lens moist

Excessive computer work

Medications - some medications such as antihistamines for allergy and acne medications have dry eye as a known side effect.

IS DRY EYE REVERSIBLE?

Dry eyes can be treated but unfortunately are not reversible. Dry eye syndrome is a chronic and recurrent condition meaning that symptoms will return if treatments are stopped. By modifying one or more of the environmental factors you can improve your dry eyes, but if that trigger was reintroduced, the dry eye would most likely recur. For this reason, it is important to be consistent with dry eye treatments even if symptoms are improving.

WHAT CAN I DO TO TREAT MY DRY EYES?

The diagnosis of dry eye is made by your eye care professional. Our optometrists will grade the severity of your dry eyes, determine the type of dry eyes, and formulate a treatment plan accordingly.

The mainstay of dry eye treatment is artificial tears and warm compress. Artificial tears lubricate the front surface and supplements the tears. Warm compresses melt the oils in your oil glands, allowing them to come to the surface and allowing room for new oils to be produced. Artificial tears and warm compresses need to be used everyday on a consistent basis to be effective. It is important to make sure that the artificial tears you are using have lubricating ingredients. Stay away from any drops at the pharmacy that say “redness reliever,” they will make your eyes more dry and temporary redness relief with long-term rebound redness. Warm compresses should be done every night with an object that retains heat. Warm towels and tea bags do not stay hot long enough to penetrate the skin and unclog the oil glands. We recommend using an eye mask with gel beads that retains heat and putting that over your eyes for at least 10 minutes.

For moderate and severe dry eyes, artificial tears and warm compresses are usually not enough to alleviate all symptoms. If home treatments are not enough, there are in-office treatments that can help. The first treatment option is using collagen to block your tear ducts so that more of your natural tears will stay on your eyes. This treatment is reversible and will also make artificial tears more effective. The second treatment option is an oil gland treatment called MiboFlo. This treatment will unclog the stubborn glands that are not getting unclogged with home treatments.

Other treatment options include prescription anti-inflammatory drops and scleral contact lenses. Unlike soft contact lenses which take moisture from your eyes, scleral contact lenses create a tear reservoir that bathes the front surface of your eye to keep it hydrated throughout the day.

WATCH VIDEO ON TREATMENT OPTIONS

PUNCTAL OCCLUSION TREATMENT

One treatment of severe dry eye is punctal plug occlustion.

watch video here

MIBO THERMOFLO

We have added an excellent new therapy to our dry eye treatment center. By using the Mibo Thermoflo device offers a relaxing and effective treatment experience for our dry eye patients. Dr. Ha herself gets this treatment done monthly.

FACTS ABOUT MIBO THERMOFLO & MGD

1. MiBoFlo Is an Effective Way to Manage Dry Eye Disease

Meibomian glands are oil glands along the edge of the eyelids where the eyelashes are found. These glands make oil that is an important part of the eye's tears. The oily layer is the outside of the tear film that keeps tears from drying up too quickly. A number of eye problems can involve the meibomian glands. . Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) can lead to altered tear film composition, ocular surface disease, eyelid discomfort, and evaporative dry eye. Blockages to these tear ducts may result in severe dry eye syndrome.

2. MiBoFlo uses Heat

Upon confirming you have dry eyes during your comprehensive eye exam, we may include MiBoFlo as part of your treatment. The MiBoFlo therapy uses thermoelectric radiation to treat dry eyes, especially if you have had this problem for a long time. This device produces a therapeutic temperature of 108 degrees that helps liquefy viscous or dried-up tears. The heat also stimulates your meibomian glands to produce more tears.

3. MiBoFlo is comfortable and painless

Before your session begins, we will ask you to remove your contact lenses (if you wear them) and any eye makeup to ensure proper heat absorption. We will then have you close your eyes while we apply ultrasound gel on the MiBoFlo eye pads and start the timer. You may sense slight pressure as we massage your eyelids with the eye pads. You can expect the session to last for about eight minutes per eye.

WATCH VIDEO ON MIBO THERMOFLO