Dry Eye

Dry eye is one of the most common eye diseases, affecting about 50% of the US population. It can range from mild, simply requiring eye drops, to severe, needing a range of treatments. In some cases, it can be extremely debilitating for our patients. Dr. Mark has been building the office around dry eye, and has many assessment tools and treatment options available. Dr. Mark strives to find the root cause of the problem and find the proper treatment, as not all dry eye variants are the same.

The most common form of dry eye is called “Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD).” This condition involves the glands on the eyelids, located at the base of the lashes that produce oil that is incorporated in the tear film, preventing evaporation of your tears. When the glands don’t function properly, the oil is decreased, tears evaporate, and most people have symptoms of intermittent blur (needing to blink to clear up vision), watery eyes for no apparent reason, sandy/burning/stinging feelings in the eyes, foreign body sensation, and sometimes general dryness. Often times, the glands, which can be visualized on testing, have atrophied, releasing little oil. Once they atrophy, it is very hard to bring them back without medical intervention, and dry eye can persist or worsen. The treatments for MGD target the skin, and eyedrops aim to add oil back to the tears. Most over the counter drops will not add the oil, and will flush out quickly, only lasting for several minutes of relief.

The second most common dry eye is called “Aqueous Deficient Dry Eye (ADDE).” This is often from a lack of production of tears by the lacrimal gland, or excessive drainage of the tears through the puncta, which are holes in the eyelids, right next to your nose. Over the counter drops may give relief, but also tend to be a short-term fix. Our treatments include punctal plugs, which slow the drainage using a 2mm long collagen insert that goes into the drainage duct (trust me, it’s a very quick, easy, and painless procedure), prescription drops that stimulate tear production, or best - to find the systemic cause of the disease and treat that. Most of the time, the systemic cause is inflammatory, traumatic, or autoimmune, so getting to the root cause can be difficult. In those cases, protecting the eye with serum tears (drops made from your own blood plasma), amniotic membranes (stem cells grafted on the eye to promote healing and relief), and at-home practices can help relieve your dry eye issues.

Below are several of our common practice treatments for dry eye:

Prescription Dry Eye Medications

Lid Margin Debridement

Amniotic Membranes

Autologous Serum Tears

Punctal Occlusion

Red Light Therapy

Meibomian Gland Probing