Chronic dry eyes can make it hard to get through the day and even harder to focus on work, especially if you need a screen. Thankfully, a new technique called intense pulsed light therapy relieves many people of dry eye. At Richardson Eye Associates in Richardson and Plano, TX, our eye doctor is excited to learn whether IPL could be a good fit for your chronic dry eye symptoms.
Causes of Dry Eye
Some causes of dry eye are short-term and situational. If you spend much time in air conditioning or enjoy riding your bike, you may experience dry eye afterward. If true, you're dealing with an acute dry eye issue. These problems can be easily remedied by changing your situation or environment and don't require treatment beyond occasional eye drops.
Chronic dry eye, on the other hand, can be tiring and hard to overcome. The tear film in the eye has multiple layers, and when one of the layers is not functioning correctly, you're likely to experience dry eye. Common causes include hormone issues, autoimmune problems, and allergic eye disease.
What Is IPL Treatment?
Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) is a treatment that uses high-intensity pulses of light to address various skin and eye conditions. IPL technology delivers precise wavelengths of light into the skin or eye tissues, which are absorbed by specific targets, such as pigmented lesions or blood vessels. The heat generated by the absorbed light energy helps to treat these conditions. During IPL, our optometrist will place goggles over your eyes and then use a pulsed light outside the goggles. You may feel slight discomfort or tingling.
Many people with dry eyes find significant relief after the treatment. Those with chronic dry eye find that the IPL procedure provides three to six months of relief from symptoms. While you'll need to return to our eye doctor for additional treatments, you can enjoy multiple months without the discomfort associated with dry eye.
Call Richardson Eye Associates in Richardson, TX
At Richardson Eye Associates in Richardson and Plano, TX, we're here for all your eye care needs. Whether you're looking for light therapy to answer your dry eye issues or searching for a new eye doctor for your annual eye exam, we've got you covered. Contact us at (972) 231-3439 to schedule an appointment.
