Do you experience eye irritation, scratchiness, blurred vision, or eye fatigue? Have you noticed a burning sensation, tearing, or discomfort in windy or dry conditions? If so, you may have tried various eye drops, medications, or supplements to ease the symptoms of dry eye. Many treatments only mask the symptoms and do not offer much long term relief.
Dry eye is a progressive condition and should be closely monitored. There may be minimal symptoms in the early stages but, if left untreated, dry eye syndrome becomes harder to manage. An accurate diagnosis to determine the cause of your dry eye is essential to customize a targeted treatment plan.
We’re different.
Dry eye specialists at the IU Dry Eye Clinic use state-of-the-art technology and testing (Keratograph 5M, LipiView II, TearLab Osmolarity, InflammaDry) to diagnose and monitor your specific ocular surface condition. With these tools, our doctors can determine the underlying causes of your symptoms while also looking for signs of damage to the front surface of your eye from inflammation. Dry Eye Disease can result from the tears evaporating too quickly or from lack of tear film production or both. The most common cause of quick evaporation of the tears is from insufficient oil on the surface of the eye. The blockage of the oil producing (meibomian) glands causes the tears to evaporate quickly and can be treated in-office with LipiFlow, MiBoFlo, iLUX (new!), and Intense Pulsed Light Therapy (new!), sometimes in combination with at-home treatments. Other treatments for dry eye may include prescription eye drops to reduce inflammation and improve tear production (Restasis and Xiidra), blocking the tear ducts (punctal plugs) to increase tear volume, and specialty contact lenses that can keep the eyes lubricated.
Based on your testing results, your doctor will create a personalized treatment plan for you with his/her best recommendations. We are constantly developing and implementing new treatments based on research conducted here at IU and elsewhere. People who were previously diagnosed and treated unsuccessfully for dry eye now have more treatment options.
