At The Dry Eye Clinic, we have been providing care and guidance for suffers of dry eye ranging from mild to severe since 2015 with our Gold Standard Dry Eyes Clinic treatment pathway – including The Lipiflow System. We are often asked when and where do other treatments and relief’s that are available fit in to our care pathway.
As a sufferer of MGD or Blepharitis you will know that that the most common cause is the blocked Meibomian Glands in the eye which stops the lipid tear film protecting the evaporation of the tears and results in itchy and gritty eyes.
In fact, according to research it is estimated over 86% of the 100 million suffers worldwide have some form of MGD which stems from a deficiency in the oily lipid layer of the tear film. There are short term treatments that mask the cause and give symptomatic relief for mild dry suffers, these are commonly eye drops, however in order to treat the causes at the source we must find a way to unblock the glands and this is where heat and manipulation comes in.
Heat effectively melts and dissolves the blockages allowing the lipid to flow again. People with MGD will often keep on getting these blockages so it important that they are monitored, advised and retreated as the disease develops. In mild cases Heated Eye Pad may help delay the progress of the disease prior to intervention with LipiFlow. In more severe cases intervention with LipiFlow may be advised but there is still a role to be played by Heated Eye Pad in the maintenance of a sufficient lipid level within the eye.
