ENLIGHTENMENT |
DRY EYE TREATMENT
Dry Eye, Be Gone! by Hazlin Hassan and Brooke Herron
D
ry eye can be a literal pain, with symptoms ranging from stinging, burning, watering and itching. But it can also be a serious disease. If left untreated — or if it becomes severe — complications may arise that cause real damage like impaired vision, or in rare cases, vision loss. Dry eye disease (DED) can result from a range of daily activities, like allergies or contact lens use. In addition, increased screen time from smartphones and computers can affect the eyes and worsen dry eye symptoms. “We are spending an average of 13 hours a day on our devices — and a lot of people are doing more than that. You work eight hours a day, spend time on social media, play games and watch Netflix — all on the laptop or iPad,” said Jason Teh, an optometrist at In2Eyes Optometry in Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Teh has 19 years of experience and a Bachelor’s of Optometry.
“We spend so much time on devices that our eyes are going to pay a price — and that price is coming if we don’t make an impact on screening for dry eye,” he said. “There are many studies that show up to 70% of Asians have meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). That is a high number. In the United States, it’s about 20%,” said Dr. Teh. MGD is a blockage or some other abnormality of the meibomian glands resulting in not enough oil secretion into tears. This then causes the tear film to evaporate too quickly and results in MGD’s association with DED. In his practice, Dr. Teh has a high number of Asian patients. Following screening, he’s found that nearly 40% of his patients had the condition. “Undiagnosed MGD is going to be a massive problem worldwide in the next five to 10 years,” he said.
Fight DED with diagnosis Dr. Teh says the latest technology in dry eye diagnosis and assessment is the OCULUS Keratograph 5M (K5M; OCULUS Optikgeräte GmbH; Wetzlar, Germany). He has been using the device for the last five years. The system integrates a high-resolution camera, keratometer and corneal topographer — combining corneal topography and dry eye analysis in one machine. “I use the KM5 because it allows me to do everything: I can measure noninvasive Keratograph tear film break-up time (NIKBUT), look at tear volume, assess the meibomian glands to see how well the oil glands are structured in the upper or the lower lid,” said Dr. Teh. “We can also do stainings — by using fluorescein dye and changing the settings to blue light, we are able to capture any signs of damaged cells on
| October 2020
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