Dry eye care

Dry Eye Treatment

Most dry eye starts with blocked oil glands in the eyelids. I treat the cause, not just the symptoms, at the Dry Eye Institute at Uptown Eye Specialists in Vaughan.

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Patient relaxing during an intense pulsed light dry eye treatment, wearing protective eye shields

What causes dry eye

Tiny oil glands along your eyelids keep your tears from drying out. When they block up, called meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), tears evaporate too fast. Over time, untreated glands shrink and can disappear.

Infrared images of the eyelid oil glands: normal, shortened, and gland loss
Infrared images of the eyelid oil glands, from healthy to shortened to lost.
  • Burning or gritty eyes
  • Watery eyes
  • Blur that clears when you blink
  • Red, tired eyes after screens
  • Uncomfortable contact lenses

Your dry eye assessment

  1. 1Symptom questionnaire
  2. 2Tear film testing
  3. 3Oil gland imaging
  4. 4Eyelid and lash exam

In-office treatments

Eyelid margin with normal glands compared with blocked glands in advanced MGD

Heat and expression

iLux

Warms the eyelids, then gently presses out the thickened oil plugging glands like the ones shown here. I watch the glands under magnification as I treat.

A few minutes per eyelidNo downtime
Diagram of LipiFlow heating the inner eyelids while applying gentle pressure to the outer eyelids

Thermal pulsation

LipiFlow

Heats the inside of the eyelids while gentle pulses on the outside clear the glands. A shield protects the eye throughout.

About 12 minutesBoth eyes at once
Illustration of intense pulsed light reaching the inflamed blood vessels under the skin near the eyelid

Intense pulsed light (IPL)

Dry Eye Laser (DEL)

Gentle light pulses calm the inflamed blood vessels along the eyelids and warm the glands. Especially helpful when dry eye comes with rosacea.

3 to 4 sessionsA few weeks apart
Green dye highlighting dry, damaged spots on the surface of the eye

Made from your own blood

PRP Eye Drops

Platelet-rich plasma drops help a damaged eye surface heal, like the dry spots lit up green here. Used for moderate to severe dry eye.

Preservative-freeUsed at home

Your plan, step by step

Most plans pair daily home care with in-office treatment. In-office treatments aren't covered by OHIP.

Dry eye treatment ladder, from everyday care to in-office and advanced treatments
Where each treatment fits. Tap to enlarge.
Daily warm compress and eyelid hygiene steps: warm, massage, clean, repeat
Daily home care that keeps results going. Tap to enlarge.

The evidence

What the research shows

LipiFlow

2.6×

higher oil gland score one month after a single LipiFlow treatment. Two weeks of daily warm compresses made no significant difference.

Randomized trial, 139 adults. Lane SS et al. Cornea. 2012;31(4):396–404.

Read the study

IPL / Dry Eye Laser

86%

of patients had fewer symptoms in their IPL-treated eye after three sessions. The other eye got a placebo treatment.

Double-masked trial, 28 patients. Craig JP et al. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2015;56(3):1965–1970.

Read the study

Book a dry eye assessment

Dry Eye Institute at Uptown Eye Specialists, 2180 Steeles Ave W, Unit 221, Vaughan. (416) 292-0330. I see patients in English, Vietnamese and Mandarin.

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General information, not a diagnosis. Treatment is recommended after an eye exam. Doctors can refer through the For Physicians page.