Dry eye disease is widespread affecting up to 49 million Americans annually. This chronic condition can have a significant impact on your quality of life, causing a foreign body sensation in your eyes, pain, blurry vision, and dry or watery eyes. Untreated, it can even lead to further eye health complications. That’s were this revolutionary treatment comes in. OptiLight IPL is an advancement in the treatment of dry eye we haven’t seen since Restasis came out 15 years ago.
Despite these constant detrimental effects on quality of life, many dry eye sufferers are not aware that they’re suffering from dry eye disease or that real treatments exist. Instead, they just live with the discomfort.
Here at Eyecare Associate of Lee’s Summit, we’re dedicated to helping patients find modern and effective solutions for dry eyes. Our practice has numerous ways to test for dry eyes and diagnose them early. We’re also proud to offer OptiLight IPL by Lumenis to our patients, which is specially designed for dry eye management; Dr. Foster, our resident dry eye specialist, feels this has been a game changer in treating dry eye for our patients.
What Is OptiLight IPL?
Lumenis is a company that has created many lasers used both within the medical space and in other industries. They created a light-based, non-invasive treatment done in the area below the eyes to manage dry eye. It is the first and only IPL that is FDA-approved for dry eye management.
The treatment is safe, gentle, and backed by more than 20 clinical studies. Our summary of a few studies can be found here.
How Does It Work?
OptiLight IPL uses specific wavelength of light in short burses to reduce the inflammation typically associated with dry eye disease and meibomian gland disfunction, the leading source of eye irritation symptoms.
This treatment has been shown in many studies to significantly relieve dry eye indicators and has a multi-factorial effect, including:
- Improves oil production and volume of the meibomian glands
- Increasing tear break-up time
- Reduces bacterial load and demodex (mites) population living around your eyes
- Eliminating superficial blood vessels that contribute to ocular inflammation
What to Expect Before Your IPL Treatment
Before arriving for your appointment, you’ll be asked to review a brief consent form and questionnaire that we’ll email you ahead of time. You can bring them in filled out or you’ll fill these forms out in our office before your first IPL treatment. We kindly ask that you arrive with clean skin and no makeup. You should also avoid tanning and significant amounts of direct sunlight for 2 weeks immediately prior to your appointment.
Finally, please avoid taking the following medications during the 2 weeks leading up to your appointment:
- Tetracyclines (which are present in many antibiotics)
- Topical retinoids (which are present in many acne creams, as well as lotions, gels, and foams)
If you’re worried that your medications may interfer with the treatment, Dr. Foster recommends calling or emailing our office so we can review your concerned prior to the appointment to reduce delays.
During Your Treatment
This treatment is fast, simple and painless. During your initial treatment, Dr. Foster will cover your eyes with shields and apply a coupling gel on the treatment area. It is similar to gel used during an ultrasound, works well even for sensitive skin and cleans off easily after the treatment.
As light is applied to the skin, you may experience a warm sensation and a bright flash. The treatment is gentle with minimum discomfort. The treatment itself will only take 10–15 minutes from start to finish.
When your OptiLight IPL treatment is over, we’ll clean off the gel and apply some sunscreen to the treated area. We may also perform meibomian gland expression in certain cases at the last treatment as the IPL amplifies the effectiveness of expression treatments (like iLux or Lipiflow).
After Your Treatment
For the 2 weeks directly following your OptiLight treatment, you’ll need to wear sunscreen on a daily basis around the treated area. You may also find that your skin flushes and is more sensitive than usual for the first few days; this is normal.
To reduce redness during this period, you may use a cool compress on your eyes and cheeks for 15-minute increments a few times each day. Avoid using lid scrubs or harsh cleaners. However, you will be able to return to your normal skin cleaning routine immediately after the treatment, and can resume wearing makeup as well. After your first treatment, you will be given a complimentary gift of some Epionce skin products to help protect and heal the skin after each of the four sessions. Epionce created a line of skin care products that are safe around the eyes and gentle on the skin but very effective at supporting healing.
Part of Your Custom Treatment Plan
A course of treatment typically includes 4 sessions spaced 2–4 weeks apart, although your doctor may recommend a different schedule based on your needs.
In addition to OptiLight IPL, our practice also offers the following dry eye therapies:
- Meibomian gland expression, which can stimulate the glands that produce oil for your tear film if they are not working properly
- Debridement of lids and lashes of excessive biofilm from bacteria and demodex mites (Zest by Zocular)
- Prescription medication designed to increase tear production like Restasis or Xiidra
- Nutritional supplements containing omega-3 fatty acids, which have anti-inflammatory properties that may reduce dry eye symptoms
- Other lifestyle changes to reduce your risk of dry eyes and mitigate their symptoms
Will Lumenis’ IPL Treatment Work for Me?
While IPL is an effective dry eye management solution, we want to make sure it’s right for you. We do not recommend this treatment if you:
- Suffer from aqueous deficiency dry eye (rather than evaporative dry eye or meibomian gland dysfunction)
- Have a history of keloid scarring
- Have severe scarring around your eyes
Ultimately, your doctor is the only person who can determine whether this option is right for you. During your next appointment, ask us if you are a good candidate for IPL.
You Don’t Have to Live With Dry Eye Anymore
Dry, irritated eyes can be managed with a new treatment that brings comfort and can restore quality of life. Visit our dry eye specialist Dr. Alyssa (Sherwood) Foster to get an accurate diagnosis and a treatment plan tailored to your needs.
Please call or text us at 816-524-8900.
Updated June 2022 by Laura Nennig, OD; she specializes in contact lens fittings, with advanced training with scleral lenses including those used for dry eye treatment and has a passion for ocular wellness . She works closely with our resident dry eye specialist, Alyssa (Sherwood) Foster, OD. Initially posted 7/2021.
