The Benefits Of Dry Eye Therapy On Your Eyes And Beyond

Is the summer sun drying out your eyes and skin? Are you finding sunspots surfacing as summer goes on? These long, hot days call for lots of pool and beach time and you may notice that you’re using dry eye drops now more than ever from all the sun, heat and chlorine! Intense pulse light and radio frequency therapies can help you beat your summer dry eye and skin concerns.

Have you ever been to a medical dry eye spa? These facilities may utilize dry eye devices patented by Lumenis. The OptiLIGHT Intense Pulse Light (IPL) machine is the holy grail of dry eye treatment. IPL uses light to kill the bacteria in the glands around your eyes and warm all the oils up to get them flowing again. OptiLIGHT has a specialized, Food and Drug Administration-approved hand piece that is applied under the eye to heat the glands using a powerful light. This “light” is not ultraviolet-based and is controlled through filters in the machine. The quick, painless procedure is performed once a month for four months.

In addition to dry eye care, the machine’s settings can be switched over to provide a full photo facial. These “facials” will use the same light technology and go a little deeper into your skin, pulling forward any brown spots, redness and rosacea. Little brown sunspots will pepper forward and start to look like coffee grounds, eventually sloughing off after a few days. OptiLIGHT also kills the bacteria rosacea grows and thrives off of, calming redness and any pimples that may be present. OptiLIGHT IPL is a wonderful option for those who may have dry eye and skin concerns.

In conjunction with OptiLIGHT, Lumenis’ OptiPLUS Radio Frequency (RF) machine is another great tool. Radio frequency uses controlled heat to warm deeper into the skin’s layer, encouraging collagen production. Each dry eye RF treatment is about 30 minutes, and a technician can massage around your eyes with OptiPLUS’ 10-millimeter, FDA-approved hand piece. Your doctor can then express your lid margins, opening up all the glands manually, clearing out any old makeup, dead skin or allergens that are built up in your eyes. As alarming as gland expression sounds, many patients have reported the treatment as very calming and comfortable; some have even taken a nap! In addition to OptiPLUS’ dry eye therapy, it also provides a wonderful skin-tightening aesthetic benefit, especially for crow’s feet and deep under-eye bags.

Woolf Eye Lab is proud to partner with Lumenis and bring light into health care. All products used in the office are the only FDA-approved devices for dry eye and are safe to use on most skin types, conditions and concerns. Woolf Eye Lab’s dry eye protocol pairs with its medical-grade skin care line, AlumierMD, and provides the utmost dry eye and skin comfort.

For more information, contact Woolf Eye Lab at 410-255-8056 or hello@woolfeyelab.com, or visit www.woolfeyelab.com.