Tears are your body’s natural way of keeping your eyes lubricated and moist. An issue with the balance of your tear film can lead to dry eye syndrome. If you suffer from dry eyes, you do not need to despair. Various treatments can help treat this condition, including home remedies and medical interventions. One of the newcomers to the treatment field for dry eye syndrome is intense pulsed light therapy or IPL.

What Is IPL Therapy?

Intense pulsed light therapy uses gently light pulses to address the underlying cause of dry eyes. Performed in an optometrist’s office, the procedure is painless and targets the skin around the eyes. It aims to reduce bacterial growth and inflammation in the area around the eyes. Furthermore, light energy helps break down debris and oil buildup blocking the meibomian glands.

Why You Should Consider IPL Therapy for Dry Eyes

Today, there are many treatment options for dry eye syndrome. These include eyelid wipes, artificial tears, LipiFlow®, and hot compress. Most of these treatments aim to relieve the symptoms of dry eye disease instead of the underlying cause. 

Intense pulsed light therapy, on the other hand, treats meibomian gland dysfunction, which is the root cause of dry eye syndrome. When treating this condition, your symptoms should go away, in addition to slowing the progression of your chronic dry eyes. 

How Intense Pulsed Light Therapy Works

The meibomian glands produce oil that forms part of your tear film. Tears consist of three main layers—the inner mucus layer, watery middle layer, and oily outer layer. The outer layer prevents your tears from evaporating. Meibomian gland disorder results from the inflammation or obstruction of the meibomian glands. 

Also, people with ocular or facial rosacea tend to have abnormally dilated blood vessels along the margins of their eyelids. These dilated blood vessels can increase eyelid inflammation, leading to the dysfunction of the meibomian glands.

Intense pulsed light therapy closes these abnormally dilated blood vessels. It also causes photo-rejuvenation of the skin cells. IPL unclogs the meibomian glands and dissolves the oil within the glands. 

Process and Procedure

IPL therapy for dry eyes is an outpatient procedure performed in an optometrist’s office. Your optometrist will use a handheld device to perform the procedure. Your eye doctor or technician will place protective glasses or goggles over your eyes. Your doctor will then rub a cooling gel over the treatment area before placing the IPL device over your eyelids. 

The device will use pulsed light to melt the buildup blocking your meibomian glands. Once unblocked, your eye doctor will try to stimulate the natural oil production in your eyes.

How Quickly Does the Treatment Work?

Like most patients, you should experience an improvement within a few hours after your first treatment session. However, you may need to undergo several treatments at three-week intervals, depending on the severity of your condition. That said, after the third or fourth treatment, you will not require further treatments for up to a year. Most patients need one top-up IPL treatment annually.

For more on IPL therapy, visit Positive Eye Ons Optometry at our office in Los Angeles, California. Call (323) 651-5646 to book an appointment.