Dry Eye Treatment Greenfield | Dry Eyes Athol

What is Dry Eye?

Dry eye is a chronic condition that occurs when your tear film is lacking in one of the components that keeps your eyes lubricated and comfortable. These three components are mucin, oil, and water.

When you lack one or more of them, your tears may evaporate too quickly, or you may not be able to make enough tears for your eyes to stay moisturized.

Dry eye is increasingly common worldwide, affecting both men and women with symptoms ranging from:

Persistent dryness

Excessive tearing

Grittiness

Itchiness

Red, irritated eyes

Difficulty wearing contact lenses

Blurry vision

Stringy mucus in or around the eyes

Sensitivity to light

Eye fatigue

Feeling like there's something in your eye

These symptoms can also be signs of other eye conditions, so it's essential to schedule an eye exam with your ophthalmologist at The Eye Center to ensure you are correctly diagnosed.

How is Dry Eye Treated?

After carefully and precisely diagnosing your condition, our dry eye doctors discuss the treatment options that would be the most effective and make the most sense for you. Treatment typically focuses on education while combining natural, homeopathic suggestions along with cutting-edge Western medicine treatment modalities.

The Eye Center offers a wide range of effective dry eye treatments that are determined by the findings of a complete dry eye evaluation. This evaluation is used to create a custom, targeted treatment plan specific to your eyes' needs and the symptoms you experience.

These recommendations range from lubricating eye drops to state-of-the-art intense pulsed light therapy and beyond. The dry eye treatments offered at The Eye Center include:

IPL Laser Treatment

Intense pulsed light (IPL) laser treatment is an effective solution to dry eye when it's caused by inflammation and meibomian gland dysfunction, a condition that clogs the glands in the eyelid and prevents normal oil flow. This in-office procedure involves using a laser to send a series of small bursts of light energy to your eyelids and surrounding skin, reducing the inflammation impacting your meibomian glands and restoring the natural flow of oil necessary for healthy tears.

Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Eye Drops

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an advanced regenerative therapy that has been used for over two decades in which a person's own blood is used to heal, restore, or rejuvenate their body. The plasma contains high concentrations of platelets that secrete growth factors to accelerate healing by rapidly duplicating new healing cells to rebuild and restore damaged tissue. PRP tears, or eye drops made from your platelet-rich plasma, can be an effective part of the treatment plan for patients with moderate to severe dry eye disease to heal and rejuvenate the surface of your eye.

Low-Level Light Therapy (LLLT)

Low-level light therapy is a non-invasive treatment that utilizes specific wavelengths of light to stimulate cellular function, promote healing, and reduce inflammation. LLLT can be used to treat dry eye syndrome by increasing tear production, heating with gentle expression of meibomian glands, and improving the overall health of the ocular surface.

Prescription Medications and Eyedrops

When natural tears do not maintain eye health adequately, artificial tears can be used to supplement your tear production and quality. Our dry eye doctors will consider the cause of your dry eye symptoms and the level of pain or discomfort you're experiencing to determine which over-the-counter or medicated eyedrops will best restore balance and comfort to your eyes, improving your eye health and relieving your symptoms. There are also several medicated eye drops that can reduce inflammation and increase natural tear production. The testing done during our full dry eye evaluation will guide the use of these valuable medications.

Who is at Risk for Dry Eye?

You may be more at risk of developing dry eye if you:

Are 50 years or older

Are a woman, with increased risk after menopause

Have had specific vision correction procedures, like LASIK

Are diagnosed with an autoimmune or thyroid condition

Have eye conditions like blepharitis, entropion, or ectropion

Have ocular rosacea

Take medications like antidepressants, diuretics, or antihistamines

At your dry eye evaluation with The Eye Center, your eye doctor will perform a detailed eye exam and ask questions about your symptoms, medical history, and lifestyle to determine what could be causing your dry eye and recommend the best treatment for you.

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