LIPIFLOW: A Revolutionary Dry Eye Treatment

David Shanahan’s adds a service to provide quick relief to patients with dry eyes. Each appointment for Lipi Flow includes a FREE IPL (Intensive Pulse Light) session completed on your follow up dry eye treatment consultation.

Lipi Flow is a revolutionary dry eye treatment that provides the unfortunate with relief by massaging the Meibomian Glands that are responsible for keeping your eyes moist and healthy.

If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms then you most likely have Dry Eyes

• Stinging
• Burning
• Redness
• Occasional blurred vision
• Itchiness (particularly in the corners of the eyes)
• Tired eyes (a feeling like you need to close the eyes)
• Mucus around the eyelids, particularly upon waking
• A feeling of grittiness, or the sensation of something foreign in the eye (like an eyelash or a grain of sand)

Dry Eye syndrome is extremely common with 30% of the population suffering every year. Most are unaware of the problem until they are in terrible pain or their optometrist has examined them.

What is Lipi Flow?

The Lipiflow Thermal Pulsation System is an automated thermal eyelid massage that applies consistent yet gentle heat and pulsating pressure to the eyelids. LipiFlow eye device that provides both inner and outer lid therapy for dry eyes. During treatment, the small LipiFlow device will be applied to the eyelids one at a time. The device works to unblock clogged meibomian glands, restoring the appropriate balance of oils in the eye’s tear film to relieve dry eyes. This oil is essential for a healthy tear film and for protecting the tear layer or watery layer of your eyes. When the water layer is exposed due to a lack of oils on the top of the tear film because of gland blockages, the result is the leading dry eye cause.

Does it hurt?

In a clinical study, the average discomfort/pain score during treatment on a scale of 1-10 was 1.4 ± 1.4. The process is made as comfortable as possible with the optometrist and technician present to address any concerns. Most patients have described the eyelid massage as soothing, feeling no discomfort.

“Soon the system’s temperature started to rise and I could feel slight warmth. Little did I realize the system was reaching nearly 108 degrees. It felt much like a warm compress on my eyes and I felt no discomfort. Then after reaching the peak temperature the system began to “pulsate” or massage my eyelids internally and also externally. This also did not hurt, but instead felt soothing.”

     LipiFlow Customer

How long does the Lipiflow treatment take?

Prepare to be in the physician’s office for about 45min. The treatment is roughly 12 minutes, per eye, but both eyes are usually done at the same time.

What will happen if I ignore my Dry Eye problem?

Cases of Dry Eye can vary however, Evaporative Dry Eye is a chronic disease. Without effective treatment, dry eye symptoms are likely to worsen, including:

• Further discomfort
• Permanent loss of gland function
• Cell damage
• Visual degradation

What begins as minor alterations to the tear film can turn into long-term pain and injury. Some patients with severe symptoms eventually report a drop-off in discomfort, which can mean that the nerves in the dry eyes have stopped responding.

How well does it work?

In a clinical study, 79% of patients reported improvement in overall dry eye symptoms (ranging from 10% to 100% improvement) within four weeks of a single LipiFlow treatment.

If any of this information is hitting home, or you are experiencing symptoms of dry eye please call us on (08) 9335 2602.

Book you an appointment today and experience relief.

Categorised in: Dry Eye Treatment

This post was written by David Shanahan