Many different factors contribute to dry eyes, including the aging process, environment and climate, lifestyle, medical and health conditions, and the side effects of different medications. Regardless of the primary cause, this condition causes discomfort and can negatively affect the quality of your daily life. At Wichita Vision Institute in Wichita, KS, we can design a dry eye treatment plan with IPL and LLLT to rehydrate your eyes and restore your quality of life.
Sometimes it takes more than just over-the-counter eyedrops to treat and resolve the symptoms of dry eyes, which is why we offer effective treatments that provide solutions for reducing your symptoms and rehydrating your eyes. If you’re among the 100 million individuals worldwide who suffer from dry eyes, you’re not alone, and there are treatment options that work.
We offer customized treatment plans at Wichita Vision Institute to treat and resolve this condition. Our treatment options don’t just mask the symptoms of dry eyes, a condition also known as dry eye syndrome, but they target the cause of dry eyes at the source. Our treatments can alleviate the most common symptoms, including:
While different factors can contribute to dry eye syndrome, on the biological level, this condition results when the eyes either don’t produce enough tears or they do produce tears, but those tears just evaporate from the eyes too quickly. Both IPL and LLLT are two treatment options that are designed to target the biological causes of dry eyes by addressing different glands using non-invasive and pain-free light therapy techniques.
IPL stands for intense pulsed light and is often associated with cosmetic treatments designed to deliver skin rejuvenating benefits. However, we can use IPL to treat the root cause of dry eyes and resolve your symptoms. One of the primary causes of dry eyes is inflammation, and intense pulsed light can treat this condition by reducing the inflammatory response that causes dry eyes to reduce symptoms.
It can also heat different glands in the eyes that have been ineffective at hydrating the eyes due to blockages. The heat energy in the device can cause these glands to function normally by clearing blockages to secrete the oils necessary to hydrate the eye area.
IPL treatments are non-invasive and pain-free. The treatments typically take 20 to 30 minutes and don’t require any downtime post-treatment. Repeat treatments are typically scheduled four to five weeks after the initial treatment if needed. We will use the IPL device to apply the intense pulsed light directly to the eyelid area during the treatment process.
Patients can expect a noticeable improvement in their symptoms after one treatment. Typically, the treatment schedule includes four IPL treatments for the best results, and maintenance treatments every three to six months can help patients maintain adequate eye hydration long-term.
LLLT stands for low-level light therapy: a treatment that uses LED lights during treatment to safely increase the temperature of the eyelids to stimulate certain glands to respond with an oil-release reaction that hydrates the eyes, reduces symptoms, and improves patient comfort.
This treatment addresses the Meibomian glands, which can become blocked for various reasons. LLLT treatments use light energy to unblock those glands to treat symptoms and, in doing so, correct dry eye syndrome.
Low-level light treatments are completely non-invasive and pain-free. Treatments take 15 minutes and don’t require any recovery or downtime. There are no side effects and no post-treatment limitations.
LLLT provides a safe option for both adults and children alike. Patients who undergo this treatment can expect noticeable improvements in dry eye syndrome and the accompanying symptoms within hours of their first treatment.
If you are suffering from the symptoms of dry eyes, we can schedule a consultation to confirm your diagnosis and then design your treatment plan accordingly. During your first treatment, we will perform advanced dry eye testing with a TearLab Osmolarity test. This test is designed to measure the salt concentration of the tears to determine the severity of your condition.
After this test, you’ll receive an osmolarity score after we take a sample of your tears to analyze and then design your treatment plan accordingly. During your consultation, Dr. Reena Patel will evaluate your eyes to determine which treatment or combination of treatments can best address your condition. You can expect a thorough examination of your:
You may qualify for a treatment plan that includes either IPL treatments, LLLT treatments, or a combination to reduce your symptoms and hydrate your eyes. Our goal is to design a unique plan that not only reduces your symptoms but prevents this condition from affecting the quality of your life long-term.
Whether you’ve been suffering from dry eyes for days, weeks, months, or years, you don’t have to live with this condition because there are safe, non-invasive treatment options that work. An initial consultation is the first step in this process and will enable us to learn more about your symptoms and your condition and design a dry eye treatment plan that will restore full function and health to your eyes.