Do your eyes feel irritated, gritty, or uncomfortably dry throughout the day? Maybe you experience excessive tearing, redness, or blurred vision that comes and goes.
These are common symptoms of dry eye syndrome, a condition that can significantly interfere with daily activities like reading, driving, or working on a computer. The good news is that effective dry eye treatment is available, and ophthalmologists have more options than ever to help restore comfort to your eyes.
Keep reading to learn how the experienced team at Traverse City Eye, Northern Michigan’s Dry Eye Center of Excellence, uses advanced diagnostic tools and proven therapies to address the root causes of dry eye and bring lasting relief to patients.
What is Dry Eye?
Dry eye occurs when your eyes don’t produce enough tears or when your tears evaporate too quickly. Your tears are more complex than you might think.
They’re made up of three essential layers: an oily outer layer, a watery middle layer, and a mucus inner layer. Each of these components must be present in the right balance to keep your eyes properly lubricated and healthy.
When any of these layers is deficient or out of balance, your eyes can become dry, uncomfortable, and irritated. Many people with dry eye syndrome experience symptoms like burning, stinging, or a scratchy sensation, as if something is stuck in their eye.
Some people are surprised to learn that watery eyes can actually be a symptom of dry eye. When your eyes become irritated from dryness, they respond by producing excess tears, but these reflex tears don’t have the right composition to properly lubricate your eyes.
What Causes Dry Eye?
Identifying the cause of your dry eye symptoms is essential for finding the right treatment. Common causes of dry eye inlcude:
- Digital eye strain
- Allergies
- Eye conditions like blepharitis, entropion, and ectropion
- Autoimmune conditions
- Medications, including antihistamines, blood pressure medications, and antidepressants
- Contact lens overuse
- Dry, windy, or smoky environments
The ophthalmologists at Traverse City Eye use comprehensive diagnostic testing to determine the underlying cause of your symptoms. This might include measuring your tear production, evaluating the quality of your tears, examining your eyelids and the surface of your eyes, and assessing your blink rate.
How Do Ophthalmologists Treat Dry Eye?
When over-the-counter artificial tears and at-home remedies aren’t providing adequate relief, it’s time to explore professional treatment options. Traverse City Eye offers several advanced therapies designed to treat different types and severities of dry eye:
TearCare
Meibomian gland dysfunction, or MGD, is one of the most common causes of dry eye. Your meibomian glands produce the oil that forms the outer layer of your tear film. When these glands become blocked or stop functioning properly, your tears evaporate too quickly, leaving your eyes dry and irritated.
TearCare is an innovative treatment that directly addresses MGD. During the procedure, your eye doctor places a wearable device on your eyelids that delivers gentle, controlled heat to the meibomian glands for about 15 minutes. This heat liquefies the solidified oil that’s blocking the glands.
After the heating phase, your ophthalmologist uses specialized instruments and a microscope to manually express the glands, releasing the trapped oils and restoring healthy function.
Prokera
For patients with advanced dry eye that has damaged the corneal surface, Traverse City Eye offers Prokera treatment. Prokera is a unique device that combines the natural healing properties of amniotic membrane tissue with a simple, contact lens-like delivery system.
The amniotic membrane, which is part of the placenta, contains proteins and growth factors that reduce inflammation and promote healing.
Your eye doctor begins by applying numbing drops to your eye for comfort. They then place the Prokera device, which looks like a clear ring with a membrane stretched across it, onto the surface of your eye, similar to inserting a large contact lens.
The device remains in place for three to five days, during which time the amniotic membrane releases its healing properties to repair damaged tissue and reduce scarring on your cornea.
Prokera has proven particularly effective for patients with dry eye who have developed significant corneal damage or inflammation. The treatment can help restore the health of your eye’s surface, making it more receptive to other dry eye therapies.
Biotissue AmnioGraft
Some people experience a specific type of dry eye called conjunctivochalasis, or mechanical dry eye. This condition occurs when the conjunctiva, the clear tissue covering the white of your eye, becomes loose and wrinkled.
These folds of tissue prevent tears from properly holding in your eye and can cause significant irritation and discomfort. Biotissue AmnioGraft addresses this problem by replacing the problematic tissue with a biologic graft.
Like Prokera, AmnioGraft uses amniotic membrane tissue to promote healing, but it’s applied differently. During the procedure, your ophthalmologist carefully places the graft where needed to smooth the eye’s surface and restore its ability to retain tears.
Recovery typically takes two to three weeks, and most patients experience substantial improvement in their ability to maintain adequate tear coverage.
Prescription Eye Drops
In addition to in-office treatments, Traverse City Eye prescribes medications that can improve tear production and quality over time:
Restasis
Restasis is a prescription eye drop that reduces inflammation in the tear glands. Many cases of dry eye involve chronic inflammation that prevents the glands from producing healthy tears. By suppressing this inflammation, Restasis allows your eyes to naturally produce better-quality tears.
Xiidra
Xiidra is another prescription eye drop option that targets dry eye inflammation, but it works through a different mechanism. Xiidra blocks specific cell-surface proteins that can interfere with tear production and quality. By preventing these proteins from causing inflammation, Xiidra helps your eyes produce tears that properly lubricate and protect the corneal surface.
Why Choose Traverse City Eye for Dry Eye Treatment?
Traverse City Eye has earned the designation of Northern Michigan’s Dry Eye Center of Excellence, a recognition given only to ophthalmologists who have completed extensive training in diagnosing and managing dry eye conditions. This specialized expertise means you’re getting care from doctors who truly understand the complexity of dry eye and stay current with the latest treatment advances.
Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all solution, the ophthalmologists at Traverse City Eye carefully diagnose the specific cause of your symptoms and create a treatment plan tailored to your individual needs. With options ranging from prescription eye drops to advanced in-office procedures, they can address dry eye at every level of severity.
Are you ready to take the first step toward healthier, more comfortable eyes? Schedule an appointment at Traverse City Eye in Traverse City, MI, today to discover which dry eye treatment option is right for you.