It may sound contradictory, bright lights can’t be good for your eyes right? Well bright lights in your eyes are dangerous, as are lasers. However, intense pulse light around your eyes and skin area has many advantages. Dry Eye Disease (DED) is a common disease that can affect visual function and quality of life. DED can also affect refractive and cataract surgery outcomes.
A normal stable tear film is critical for maintaining ocular surface health and clear vision because it delivers nutrients, protects and moisturizes the ocular surface. The tear film has two main components: a muco-aqueous gel layer and a lipid layer. Lack of aqueous production plays a small part in DED. It is the lipid layer, which comprises the outermost layer, that is responsible for maintaining tear film stability. The lipid layer acts as a barrier that retards evaporative water loss. The lipid layer is composed primarily of meibum secreted by the meibomian glands in the eye lids. Deficiency in meibum quality leads to increased evaporative water loss and instability. Most DED is of the evaporative type that is a result of meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). It was discovered that the primary cause of MGD is terminal duct obstruction with thickened opaque meibum containing keratinized cell material.
This is why using artificial tears to treat dry eye disease is just scratching the surface. Prescription tear drops will help increase tear production but to get relief that lasts we have to address the lack of meibum secretion. IPL treatments are a very effective way to unclog those ducts and increase meibum flow. IPL also decreases inflammation around the areas by decreasing the level of pro-inflammatory mediators.
