TearCare Treatment for Dry Eye
This is Dawn; she is a patient who has been suffering from dry eye symptoms for over 15 years. She came to Dr. Fisher last fall after her online search showed the many treatment options that Focal Pointe Eye Care offers. Her eyes felt like sandpaper and burned throughout the day, causing even blinking to be painful. Living with dry eye symptoms affected her life in many ways; she has not been able to wear contacts or makeup, was prone to eye infections, and could not get a full night of sleep. She would wake up nightly with painfully dry eyes. Dawn went through three TearCare treatments with Dr. Fisher and “it has made a world of a difference!”
Within a few weeks, Dawn began to notice improvements in her eyes and she was no longer in pain throughout the day. “The best way to describe it was that I stopped noticing my eyes. I didn’t need drops in the middle of the day or first thing in the morning. That is a big deal!” Even her sleep improved, too. “I no longer lose sleep over my dry eyes, which often, I did. It was hard to go back to sleep after waking up to use drops in the middle of the night,” she explained.
TearCare is a treatment developed for patients with Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), which is the leading cause of dry eye symptoms. MGD causes inflammation and clogging of small glands in your eyelids that produce the oily layers of your tears. During the TearCare treatment, warming pads are placed on the upper and lower lids like you see in the photo. This will gradually heat the area which softens the oils in the Meibomian glands. It is common for patients to feel so relaxed they even fall asleep during this portion of the treatment! After 15 minutes the pads are removed and the doctor massages the lid area to express any clogged glands. TearCare is an in-office treatment that takes multiple visits to get best results, similar to what Dawn experienced.
MGD is a condition that continually needs treatment to stop advancement and further damage to the eye. In addition to the in-office treatment, Dawn’s at-home regimen included cleansers, warm eye masks, taking supplements, and performing daily blinking exercises. This “homework” allows her progress to be long lasting. It is important to both Dr. Fisher and Dr. Lyons that improvements in dry eye symptoms are maintained between appointments to allow for clearer vision and a more comfortable life in the future.
For questions or to schedule a Dry Eye Consultation, please call or text 513-779-3937 or email info@fpeye.care.