Breakthrough treatment available for dry eyes

Friday, May 04, 2012

Dry eye disease affects more than 100 million people worldwide. Of those, 65 percent suffer from Evaporative Dry Eye. Common symptoms of dry eye include dryness, grittiness, soreness, irritation, burning and eye fatigue. These symptoms can hinder people’s daily activities such as reading, using the computer, wearing contact lenses and being outdoors on windy days. Many dry eye patients complain those symptoms worsen throughout the day. “Dry eye disease is one of the most common topics patients discuss when visiting eye care professionals,” said Amit Chokshi, MD. “We are very pleased to introduce the new LipiFlow treatment to help those patients who are very frustrated with this chronic disease and all of the ways it negatively impacts their lives. In effect, LipiFlow helps the meibomian glands resume their natural function and many patients note symptom relief.”

Historically, common therapies aimed at dry eye symptom relief included using warm compresses, over- the-counter wetting drops and ointments, and prescription drugs. Alternatively, the new LipiFlow treatment addresses the root cause of evaporative dry eye by unblocking the meibomian glands that secrete oily lipids. In controlled clinical studies of patients who received a single LipiFlow treatment, the average meibomian gland score at 4 weeks increased by two to three times over the baseline condition, which reflects improvement in the number of glands secreting and secretion quality. Additionally, at four weeks after the LipiFlow treatment, 79% of patients reported improvement in dry eye symptoms.

Please contact the office at (904) 346-3506 for more information.