The Eye Practice

Dry Eyes are involved in at least 50% of the consultations we see at The Eye Practice.

As we said in a previous article, dry eye can be from a lack of lacrimal gland production, resulting in a lack of water in the eye, or a lack of meibomian gland function, resulting in a lack of oil in tears, which leads to dry eye. Another previous article discussed aqueous deficiency dry eye – the lack of water. Now, we look at oil deficient dry eye – also known as Evaporative Dry Eye.

What is Evaporative Dry Eye?

Evaporative Dry Eye is a dysfunction seen in the meibomian gland in the eyelids – the glands that give tears their slick, oily consistency. When these glands malfunction, tears wind up being too watery, and therefore, they evaporate too quickly. This rapid evaporation results in dry eye.

The meibomian gland produces what is known as the lipid layer of tears – it is a fatty and oily discharge, or secretion, that is supposed to prevent the aqueous (water) layer from rapid evaporation. Now you know that when the meibomian glands are damaged, they will not produce the lipid layer efficiently. This creates an imbalance, and a perfect formula for Evaporative Dry Eye.

A common cause of Evaporative Dry Eye is blepharitis – a chronic type of eyelid inflammation which is based at the eyelash follicles, and often results in meibomian gland dysfunction. Blepharitis symptoms are red, crusty eyelids with swelling, itching, and burning.

Obstructed meibomian glands, either by inflammation or by sebum plugging up the glands, is the main reason Evaporative Dry Eye occurs. 

What you can do about Evaporative Dry Eye

It's important to find out what's causing your meibomian glands to malfunction in order to get the right treatments done to bring you relief. Drops won't solve everything. In fact the best they can do is just mask the underlying problem.  Often dry eye patients will say that the drops help but 10 minutes later their eyes are irritating again.

Sometimes, warm compresses and eyelid massages can alleviate the symptoms. If you come into the office, we can have a closer look at the meibomian glands and expel anything that's plugging them up, such as sebum.

Other treatments for Evaporative Dry Eye include macrolides – anti-inflammatory antibiotics – a course of steroids along with antibiotics, and special formulas of artificial tears that have certain types of oil have helped ease the discomfort of Evaporative Dry Eye. Currently, macrolides are seeing an increase in use for this condition, due to their highly effective anti-inflammatory properties.

A new technique to treat Evaporative Dry Eye while in the office is the use of a thermal pulsation system. By simultaneously delivering heat to the inside of the eyelid, and massage to the outside of the eyelid, any blockages can be removed from the meibomian glands, providing you with relief.

If you have dry eye, even if you don't know which form, we'd be happy to help you. Call us on 9290 1899 or click here to book an appointment.