Dry Eye Treatment

Dry Eye Shouldn’t Impact Your Daily Life

Dry eye disease can be more than uncomfortable; it can be damaging to your eyes and affect the quality of your vision. Abbey Eye Care takes a customized approach to diagnosing and treating dry eye disease. With a series of targeted diagnostic tests and a careful case history, we can better determine the cause(s) of your dry eye. This insightful approach allows us to target your treatment to help get at the underlying cause of your symptoms rather than just the symptoms themselves. Read our patient testimonials

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Causes of Dry Eye Disease

Dry eye disease develops as a result of one of two problems: poor tear quality or insufficient tear volume

Sometimes, the body does not produce enough tears to keep the eye moist and lubricated. Other times, the body does produce enough tears; however, there may not be enough oil (called meibum) to create a moisture locking seal on the surface of the eye. Without enough meibum in your tear film, the watery component evaporates from the eye’s surface too quickly, causing dryness. The most common cause of dry eye disease is a problem with the glands that produce the meibum that keeps the eyes moist and comfortable.

Dryness
Irritation (burning or itching sensation)
Redness
Stringy discharge
Foreign body sensation in the eye
Tearing or watery eyes
Sensitivity to light
Excess glare (particularly when driving at night)
Blurry vision
Eye fatigue

In Office Treatments

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LipiFlow©

LipiFlow has been our foundational in office treatment for our dry eye patients for the past few years. View our blog post or continue reading below to learn more.

How does LipiFlow© work?

LipiFlow© is an in-office treatment that uses small, soft silicone applicators to treat MGD (meibomian gland dysfunction). The meibomian glands are the oil glands found in our eye lids. The device applies gentle heat and soothing massage to warm and unclog meibomian gland blockages. This improves the gland function and can offer long term relief for MGD. It has been found to be significantly more effective than other heat based treatments. A systematic review of the literature has found that LipiFlow© can significantly improve gland function and alleviate dry eye symptoms in most patients.
It is FDA and Health Canada approved for treatment of moderate to severe dry eye disease.

Tell me about the procedure

With the LipiFlow© procedure, applicators are applied to each eye. The applicators cover both the inside and the outside of the eye lids. The procedure takes 12 mins in total. The eye lids are heated to 42C and then are gently massaged/expressed. This temperature has been shown to melt the oil inside the meibomian glands. The melting and the massage from the applicators allows the stagnant oil in the glands to be melted and expressed. This improves the function of the oil glands so they can produce better more robust oil to cover the surface of the eye.

How many treatments do I need?

LipiFlow© is a one time treatment. 85% of patients treated with LipiFlow© notice an improvement in their dry eye symptoms. This improvement typically lasts for 12 – 24 months. Often times LipiFlow© is repeated at some point in the future to help keep dry eye symptoms at bay.

Dry eye disease can be impacted by blepharitis; an infection and irritation of the eyelid. BlephEx and AB Max can treat and prevent blepharitis and related dry eye symptoms by cleaning the eyelid and removing the source of the infection. A BlephEx or AB Max treatment takes place in our office with the use of a small, gentle handheld cleaning tool. It also does a great job of cleaning the meibomian gland openings, allowing the meibum (oil) to flow freely.

Xiidra, Restasis and Cequa are medicated eye drops prescribed to sufferers of dry eye disease. In addition to offering immediate relief of symptoms, These prescription drops also help stimulate your body’s natural tear production and are only available by prescription.

What our Patients Say

Wish I could give 10 stars

I recommend Dr Tina Goodhew SO highly. This summer I developed allergies for the first time ever. I saw 4 different medical professional (optometrist, eye surgeon, ER doctor, clinic) and no one could help.For 2 1/2 months my eyes were incredibly itchy and watering. The allergy really triggered my dry eye issue as well. Dr Tina diagnosed the issue and prescribed the needed treatment.My eyes are back to normal, which has made all the difference in my quality of life .. truly! Thanks .. wish I could give 10 stars.

Oakville, ON

Very impressed with Abbey Eye Care

I had dry eye disease for 3 years and tried to treat it with medication and heat. My optometrist recommended going for treatments at Abbey Eye care. It was a new procedure where they used very intense light and lipiflow to rejuvenate the glands that lubricate your eyes. I noticed an improvement right after the first treatment and proceeded to improve with each of the 3 next treatments. I don’t have to put drops in now and I sleep better because I don’t wake up to put drops in to relieve pain. Dr. J. Goodhew is caring, knowledgeable and thorough. The technician was perfect. She explained everything as she was doing the procedure, answering all my questions, made sure I was comfortable and made my time there enjoyable. It was worth every penny. Initial diagnosis, 4 treatments 3 weeks apart about 1 hour in length, and a follow up 10 weeks later. Each time I saw the optometrist and technician. I was very impressed with Abbey Eye Care. I whole heartedly recommend them.

Hamilton, ON

Extremely knowledgeable and professional

I had the dry eye procedure done and Rania and Dr. Oh were such a great team. They were able to heal my eyes and make the experience as relaxing as possible. They are extremely knowledgeable and professional. I would definitely recommend Abbey eye care.

Oakville, ON

Abbey Eye Care is Worth Considering

I recently visited Abbey Eye Care for my persistent dry eye issue, and the experience was great. The treatment I received, infrared plus expression, made a difference in my comfort. What really made my visits memorable was the care and patience both Dr. Ho and Sumbul showed. They were always ready to answer my questions, ensuring I felt at ease and well-informed. If you’re looking for eye care that’s both effective and delivered with a personal touch, Abbey Eye Care is worth considering.”

Oakville, ON

Diagnostics

At Abbey Eye Care we are fortunate enough to be able to image the meibomian glands (oil glands of the eyelids). Meibomian gland dysfunction is the leading cause of dry eye and LipiScan allows us to identify and treat it.

Using a special diagnostic tool called an I-PEN, we can determine the cause of your dry eye. The I-PEN measures your tear osmolarity, which tells us if there is an imbalance in your tears. This insight allows us to treat the underlying cause of your dry eye rather than just the symptoms themselves. We can also track this important metric over time to see how your treatment is progressing.

Visit Us in Oakville for a Complete Eye Care Experience