What Is Thermal Pulsation Treatment for Dry Eyes?

Dry eye syndrome can worsen over time if the symptoms remain untreated. You are likely to experience eye redness, blurred vision, eye fatigue, and pain. Your risk of getting dry eye increases with age, the same among women in their menopause age.

 

Dry eyes result from a lack of adequate or quality tear production. Your tears contain water for moisture and oils for lubrication. Your tears also need to have mucus to spread and proteins and antibodies that prevent eye infections. The inability to produce such quality can dry your eyes and give you discomfort.

 

Evaporative Dry Eyes

You are likely to have a dry eye if you have evaporative dry eyes due to meibomian gland dysfunction. According to statistics, 86 percent out of the 100 million people with dry eye worldwide have evaporative dry eye. The condition stems from a deficiency in the oily lipid layer of your tear film. 

 

Lipids protect the aqueous layer of tears. As a result, they slow down evaporation. Meibomian glands blockage causes lipid deficiency. Thus, you are likely to have dry eyes if you have meibomian gland dysfunction.

 

What Is Thermal Pulsation?

Thermal pulsation, also known as LipiFlow®, comprises a localized heat and pressure application on your eyelids. It works on your upper and lower eyelids to improve the drainage of your blocked meibomian glands. The treatments help correct meibomian gland dysfunction to alleviate dry eyes. The glands provide quality tears with oil to prevent evaporation.

How Does Thermal Pulsation Work?

Thermal pulsation is an in-office procedure that can take a few minutes to complete. Both eyes can go through the treatment at the same time. It applies controlled heat to your inner eyelids using a disposable eyepiece. The therapy also uses the eyepiece to apply alternating gentle pressure to your outer eyelid.

 

Thermal pulsation causes the release of lipids from your blocked meibomian glands. As a result, this allows the natural lipid flow to resume. In turn, you can have your eyes moistened to relieve dry eye symptoms.

 

During Treatment

Treatment duration will take a total of 12 minutes in the consulting room. Your specialist will use topical anesthesia or drops to prevent discomfort while you undergo the treatment. The LipiFlow system has a sterile piece that your doctor places over your eye to protect your cornea. The system also shows the treatment parameters. 

 

The piece placed over the eye has multiple sensors. They enable pressure and temperature supply to stay under control.

 

The piece produces heat to your inner and outer eyelids. It massages it on the outer side to enable secretions of oils. Doing so maintains tear quality. It also releases obstructions of your meibomian glands.

 

After Treatment

Thermal pulsation restores the stability of your tear film, reducing inflammation and evaporation. The treatment also reduces the damage on the ocular surface, improving your symptoms. Thermal pulsation is more effective than the conventional use of hot swabs to take care of your eyelid hygiene.


 

For more on thermal pulsation treatment, contact Brandon Eyes at our office in Madison or Middleton, Wisconsin. You can also call (608) 833-7256 or (608) 833-0301 to book an appointment today.