Dry eye disease is a widespread and common issue for up to 49 million Americans. This chronic condition can have a significant impact on your quality of life, causing a foreign body sensation in your eyes, pain, blurry vision, and dry or watery eyes. Untreated, it can even lead to further eye health complications.
Despite these constant detrimental effects on quality of life, many dry eye sufferers are not aware that they’re suffering from dry eye disease or that real treatments exist. Instead, they just live with the discomfort.
It’s time to take control of your eye comfort with the help of personalized treatments and a team who understands your needs. By investing in various dry eye treatments, our mission is to address your specific dry eye concerns so you can get back to enjoying your sight.
We’re proud to offer OptiLight by Lumenis to our patients, specially designed for dry eye management.
What Is OptiLight by Lumenis?
OptiLight by Lumenis is a light-based, non-invasive treatment done in the area below the eyes to manage dry eye. The first and only IPL FDA-approved for dry eye management.
The treatment is safe, gentle, and is backed by more than 20 clinical studies.
How Does It Work?
OptiLight uses precise pulses of light to reduce the inflammation that is typically associated with dry eye disease, improve tear break-up time, and increase meibomian gland functionality.
This application can significantly relieve dry eye indicators and has a multi-factorial effect, including:
Increasing tear break-up time and decreasing osmolarity
Reduce inflammatory mediators to inhibit inflammation
Reducing the amount of demodex mites and bacteria living around your eyes which stimulate infection
Eliminating blood vessels that contribute to inflammation
Improving meibomian gland morphology & functionality
What to Expect
Before Your Treatment
Our first step towards treating dry eye is a fully comprehensive eye exam. If you struggle with dry eye, we’ll orient the exam to look for what may be causing your symptoms.
Some of the most common techniques we may use during exam include slit-lamp examination, corneal topography, meibomian gland evaluation, and epithelial staining. We may also have you fill out our SPEED dry eye questionnaire and bring in a full list of your current medications so we have a full understanding of your symptoms and how they’re affecting your eyes.
Once we understand what may be causing your symptoms and determine your candidacy for IPL therapy, we’ll book your OptiLight appointment. We’ll ask you to refrain from using eye drops for a period of time before your treatment.
When you come for your appointment, please call or text our front desk so we can direct you to our office inside the building. One of our technicians will greet you and prepare you for your treatment.
Please come in with no makeup on. If you do, we’ll ask you to remove it before we perform the treatment.
During Your Treatment
This treatment is fast and simple. During the treatment your doctor will apply a coupling gel on the treatment area and cover your eyes with shields.
As light is applied to the skin, you may experience a warm sensation. The treatment is gentle with minimum discomfort. The treatment itself will only take 10–15 minutes.
After Your Treatment
You may return to your normal daily routine immediately after your treatment.
However, you may notice some sunburn-like symptoms (pinkness, peeling, and swelling) for a few days on treated areas. These symptoms are a completely normal part of the process and should disappear within a few days.
Part of Your Custom Treatment Plan
A course of treatment typically includes 4 sessions spaced 2–4 weeks apart.
After the initial 4 treatment sessions, maintenance sessions will be determined by your doctor.
To ensure your eyes find the comfort they deserve, we can customize a treatment plan alongside your OptiLight sessions. The plan we recommend may change depending on your specific needs, but we can provide:
A home dry eye kit with heat mask, Retaine MGD drops, and Ocusoft eyelid scrubs
Amniotic membranes
Bandage contact lenses
Prescription medications
We also carry a variety of dry eye treatments you can safely use at home.
Will the OptiLight by Lumenis Work for Me?
While OptiLight by Lumenis is an effective dry eye management solution, we want to make sure it’s right for you. We do not recommend this treatment if you:
Suffer from aqueous deficiency dry eye (rather than evaporative dry eye or meibomian gland dysfunction)
Have a history of keloid scarring
Have severe scarring around your eyes
Ultimately, your doctor is the only person who can determine whether this option is right for you. During your next appointment, ask us if you are a good candidate for OptiLight by Lumenis.
You Don’t Have to Live With Dry Eye Anymore
Dry, irritated eyes can be managed with a new treatment that brings comfort and can restore quality of life. Visit your eye doctor to get an accurate diagnosis and a treatment plan tailored to your needs.