Ipl

[lasikdryeye04]

Hi irish eyes,
Are you blocked swelling gland like mine? I post another picture of my blocked gland.
http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/a...p/IMG_6594.jpg

My eyes are so dry. I cannot stand the wind when jogging outdoor.

[irish eyes]

Hi again

Yes, I get glands that look like that. Otherwise - your eyelashes look much better than mine! I wouldn't dare send you a picture.

Do you wear shades when you are outdoors? I don't like the wind either; a few months ago we had really heavy snow and I hard to walk backwards because I couldn't bear the snow biting into my eyes.

Maybe you could do your exercises indoors? I attend a gym where the climate is well controlled.

[lasikdryeye04]

Hi irish eyes,
I actually lose 3-4 lashes every day; however, my lashes grow up pretty fast. It bothers me so much because I have to get the falling lashes out of my eyes almost every day.

I wear shades outdoor; however, still feel irritated from the wind.

How long have you suffered from dry eyes? How did it happen to you?

Thanks

[cynic]

One IPL Session?

Hi - I am in Canada, and have been SUFFERING from dry eye for over 2 years now. I am not sure if I can get IPL where I live or even trust any local docs for this. I will be near Houston for some training in July. Does anyone know if 1 IPL session with Dr Yee would be worth it. I know most people here say 4 sessions (1 month apart) are the norm, then follow-up sessions (4 months to 1 year apart?). Since this treatment is new (for DE), I expect it will come to Canada if successful (of course, this could mean 5-10 years the way Health Care works up here). I should have time for 1 IPL session - is it worth it, without the additional sessions?

[painless]

It is entirely possible that one session of IPL would have no apparent effect on you, and it is also possible that it would. Some people experience improvement after one session and others do not. However, I would not expect that one session alone would be sufficient -- even those who experienced some improvement after one session seem to have needed multiple treatments for a sustained effect.

If I were you, I'd probably try the one session just to see if it helped at all. If it did, you might feel it's worth it to get yourself down to the US a few more times. I think there is a doctor in New York doing IPL for dry eye, too, and there are 2 in California.

(However, even if one session doesn't help, that doesn't mean more sessions wouldn't.)

[cynic]

Local Dermatologist

Thanks Painless..I made an appointment to see my GP next week. I am going to ask her if one of the few local Dermatologists might use IPL. From my reading it sounds like dermatologists know more about (and have more experience) with IPL. That may be a better way to go for now - kindof an 'off label' approach - which is how Dr. Toyos found out about its use for Dry Eye. If nothing local, then I think you are right - one visit to Dr Lee may let me know if it will work for me or not - I need to try something ...

[Guest]

I ended up finding a derm. to do IPL via the yellow pages

The ones that do a lot of cosmetic laser treatments and such seem to be the same ones that offer IPL...

[cynic]

Thanks SAAG - I will give the yellow pages a try, but in Saskatchewan we need a referral from a GP to see a specialist (like a dermatologist or an opthalmologist). And once we do get a referral we typically wait 4 months to 18 months for the appt - yeah universal health care in Canada is great (unless you die, usually slowly and painfully, while waiting to see one of our "best").

[spmcc]

RE: IPL/PDL/laser in Canada

IPL, PDL, or laser are considered cosmetic and not covered by Health Canada. Therefore, you'll get in right away!

I find where I live (BC), the laser places are like 7-11s... on every corner!

[Guest]

IPL, PDL, or laser are considered cosmetic and not covered by Health Canada. Therefore, you'll get in right away!

That was my experience also... you can save a little bit of money by getting a referral from your GP though... because I did NOT have a referral, I had to pay an initial consultation fee of $75 to see the dermatologist.

[cynic]

I did find a local cosmetic laser company - Nu Image that advertises IPL on their site. Again, not sure how much experience they have with dry eye or if it matters that much. While Googling I saw a 2 day course which teaches IPL to doctors and nurses - so it doesn't seem too involved, but then again some Googling has shown some bad outcomes of IPL. I think I will see what my doc thinks first - although I am pretty sure this will all be new to her. Would prefer to have an actual dermatologist or ophthalmologist do the IPL. In Regina it won't be an ophthalmologist - I have seen most of them and all are pretty clueless (and uninterested) with respect to dry eye treatments, especially anything new.