LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – About 16 million Americans have dry eye disease.

It’s a condition that occurs when your tears are unable to produce adequate lubrication for your eyes, causing them to become dry and feel itchy, or burning.

Over-the-counter drops can provide temporary relief, but a treatment originally used to treat a common skin condition is giving patients long-lasting relief.

Whether it’s acting, guitar playing or flying, Phyllis Spielman is always up for a new challenge, but battling dry eye disease was not a challenge she was expecting.

“The worst thing you can have is to have itchy and burning because it is a distraction,” Spielman said. “You could cause an accident.”

When over-the-counter drops and compressions didn’t work as she hoped, Spielman turned to her doctor for help.

“You give somebody some artificial tears and say, ‘Just lubricate your eye and you’ll be fine,’ but this is an inflammatory disease,” said Dr. Rolando Toyos.

It’s the inflammation in the meibomian glands that causes insufficient tears to be produced. Toyos suggested the optilight treatment, a light-based treatment given in four session at two to four weeks apart. Patients can begin to feel relief right away.

“It was really painless. It was quick. There wasn’t any downtime,” Spielman said. “You wouldn’t even know that I had the treatment.”

Toyos said it’s the first and only light treatment approved by the FDA for managing dry eye disease.

More: Health stories

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