MEMPHIS, Tenn. — About 16 million adults are living with dry eye disease in the United States. 

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 an itchy or burning sensation. 

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

“The worst thing you can have is to have itchy and burning because it is a distraction,” she said.

“You could cause an accident.”

When over-the-counter drops and compressions didn’t work as Spielman hoped they would, she 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,” explained Ophthalmologist Dr. Rolando Toyos.

It’s the inflammation in the meibomian eye glands that causes insufficient tears to be produced.

It’s part of the reason Dr. Toyos invented the OptiLight treatment. 

It’s a light-based treatment given in four sessions at two to four weeks apart.

He said the secretions from the eye glands are melted away and patients can begin to feel relief almost immediately.

“It’s when the meibomian glands are not functioning properly,” he said.

“These glands produce an oily secretion to lubricate your eyes and prevent your tears from evaporating. The OptiLight treatment is light-based and given in four sessions at two to four weeks apart.”

For Spielman, the treatment was a win in her book.

“It was really painless,” she said.

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

Making tears

A new device was unveiled at Stanford University that electronically stimulates tear production. 

Before the device was unveiled, a group of researchers tested the device on rabbit eyes just below the inferior lacrimal gland. 

The researchers found that the tearing increased proportionally with an electronic pulse of increasing strength, duration, and frequent. 

The researchers also found that activating the ethmoid nerve promoted reflex tearing and a more efficient way to enhance tear production.

Testing the diagnosis

There are many different tests that help optometrists diagnose dry eye.

Symptoms that you should be cognizant of are stinging or burning of the eyes, blurred vision, especially when reading, mucus in or around the eyes, or eyes that are red or irritated. 

Some of the main causes of dry eye are hormonal changes, certain diseases, being in smoke, wind, or dry climates, looking at a screen for a long time or taking certain medicines. 

It is imperative to pay attention to any changes that happen with your eyes so that you can be treated appropriately.

If this story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Jim Mertens at jim.mertens@wqad.com or Marjorie Bekaert Thomas at mthomas@ivanhoe.com.