Dry Eye Disease and Blepharitis

What is dry eye?

• It is an instability of the natural tear film
• Tears are essential to the well being of the eye
• They help protect the eye from infection, maintain the health of the cornea (front of the eye)
• Tear focus light and smooth the travel of the eyelid over the front surface of the eye
• The cornea has millions of nerve endings, making the eye one of the most sensitive organs in the body
• The eye can easily detect fine changes to its surface, which is why we are sensitive to drying

What are the symptoms of dry eye?

• Difficulty opening the eyes in the morning
• My eyes look ‘red and tired’
• Recurrently sore, uncomfortable eyes
• Burning and stinging sensation
• Eyelids look red
• Intolerance of bright lights (phtophobia)
• Problems wearing contact lenses
• Difficulty focusing especially with the computer work

What are the causes of dry?

• Blepharitis
• Medication including anti depressants, contraceptives and diuretics
• Prolonged contact lens use
• Glaucoma therapy
• Post viral
• Prolonged computer use
• Air-conditioning  and climate control
• Lack of adequate hydration
• Previous eye injuries and abrasions
• Previous eye diseases including Shingles, Herpes Simplex
• Skin conditions including Rosacea,Dermatitis, Eczema and Psoriasis
• Certain Acne treatments
• Systemic inflammatory conditions such as Rheumatoid arthritis
• Autoimmune conditions such as Sjogren’s syndrome
• Diabetes
• Menopause
• Chemotherapy

Who should come to a dry eye clinic?

• If you have any of the symptoms highlighted or you’re simply concerned
• Considering embarking on laser treatment for vision correction
• Preparing for cataract surgery

Treatment

Our mission is to understand you and the symptoms that most trouble you

Part of that means a thorough medical history and clinical assessment

Often, our clients have already seen a variety of Opticians, Optometrists, General Practitioners and Pharmacist. They’ve been offered a variety of treatments but they haven’t always got better.

At Olelo, we want to understand the root causes of the problem and apply tailored evidence-based solutions

Dry eye clinic

You will be seen in our dry eye clinic

Our doctors will assess your vision, stability of your tear film and your eyelid health. They will review the cornea, check your eye pressure, review your meibomian gland function and assess you in terms of your systemic health and wellbeing

Our treatments are specifically designed to improve symptoms and maintain long term eye health.  This might mean dietary advice, drops and exercises for self care, in clinic heat treatments, laser or systemic therapies

We work closely with dermatologists, rheumatologists and specialist physicians in order to help identify and treat any associated conditions

Treatments offered

• Advice and self care eyelid maintenance regimes
• Nutrients for dry eye
  • Omega 3s
  • Vitamin A
  • Vitamin D3
  • Vitamin E
  • Lacritec
• Blephex treatment
• LiPiFlow / MiBoFlo eye massage
• IPL Laser
• Drops and ointments tailored to your needs
• Specific anti-inflammatory medication for the eye
• Topical immunomodulators
• Topical steroid therapy
• Appropriate prescription use of oral anti-inflammatory medication and all antibiotics
• Cutting edge topical treatments
• Specific systemic therapy
• In clinic eyelid heating for example MiBoFlo

MiBoFlo

MiBoFlo Treatment Description

You will be seated during your  treatment and a mild anesthetic drop will be placed into your eyes. Your doctor will gently position the MiBoFlo device between your eyelids and the eye itself. You will be asked to keep your eyelids closed during the procedure. The system directs controlled warmth to the eyelid while protecting and insulating the eye.  During treatment, you will feel warmth and a mild to moderate pulsing sensation on your eyelids. The temperature of this warmth is slightly above body temperature.  The MiBoFlo system also applies massage to the outer eyelid surface to further release oils from the blocked meibomian glands into the tear film. The treatment will take 12 minutes for each eye. . You may experience minor irritation or redness from the procedure.

MiBoFlo (series of 3 sessions spaced approximately 3 weeks apart) – This treatment is a holistic approach to improving the signs and symptoms are dry eye disease by unclogging the oil glands in the eyelids. Our oil glands help produce the moisture for the eye and keep the eyes hydrated. If they are not functioning properly then problems arise. MiBoFlo is a gentle procedure that softens the harmful, hard oils and helps to unblock them. An ideal treatment to get to the root cause of Dry Eye Disease.

2) BlephEx – Blepharitis is inflammation of the eyelids, usually secondary to bacterial overgrowth. BlephEx is a safe treatment to deep clean and exfoliate the eyelids and the base of the eyelash. Ideal for removing bacteria, biofilm, demodex, dandruff, flakiness, and dead cells.

3) Intense Pulse Light or IPL (series of 4 sessions spaced approximately a 2-4 weeks apart) – utilizes different intensity, frequency and wavelengths of light to close off abnormal, inflammatory producing blood vessels. Inflammation in or around the oil glands leads to poor tear film production. These abnormal, inflammatory producing vessels cause a vicious cycle of redness, irritation, and a host of eye issues. IPL is especially recommended in patients with Blepharitis, Demodex, or skin conditions (such as rosacea and dermatitis).

The Eye Massage, BlephEx and IPL are often used together, as they are ALL complimentary in their therapeutic benefits.

What is Dry Eye Disease (DED) & Blepharitis?

Blepharitis is eyelid inflammation. It affects the Meibomian glands. The bacteria that live around our eyelid glands produce biofilms and exotoxins.

Long-term inflammation slowly damages these glands and slowly degrades our ability to produce tears, and causes the redness, eye rubbing, irritation, and itching associated with chronic blepharitis.

A secondary detrimental effect of biofilm is that is provides the food source for an eyelid mite/lice called Demodex that conservative estimates suggest infestations of over 100 million people’s eyelashes.

How to treat blepharitis?

• Eyelid Massage
• Blephex
• LiPiFlo / MiBiFlo
• IPL

Treatment is aimed at removing the biofilm, early and often.

In addition, treatment removes the flaky skin and debris that act as a food source for bacteria.

Specific therapies such as Blephex and Lipiflow help to do this and reduce gland inflammation.

BlephEx (blepharoexfoliation)

BlephEx is an office-based procedure to deep clean and exfoliate the eyelids and the base of the eyelash. Ideal for removing bacteria, biofilm, demodex (eyelash lice/mites), dandruff, flakiness, and dead cells.

It takes about 8 minutes.

It is a device that now allows removal of the biofilms from patient’s eyelids in about 8 minutes, just like a dental cleaning.

And just like a dental cleaning, we should be removing these biofilms early in life and regularly.

Our treatments help to prevent disease as well as manage on going disease.