IPL for dry eye, spoke to Dr toyos

[sazy123]

Hi! Yeah sounds really good. Have been thinking about this for a year or so. Live in Sweden but maybe I'll go to Memphis to try this this summer.
Just a question for you Sazy (who also seem to have as dry eyes as I do), do you have 'toothpaste resembling secretion'? I don't. But almost wish I did since then this IPL method would maybe be appropriate for me.
Anna

Hi no i dont have toothpaste resemblance, but it also reduces inflammation and vascularization which is whats causing mine, but yes im wondering if it will help because my glands arent actually blocked by thickened oil. Inflammation is preventing them functioning.

Im going on the 28th of may for the first appointment, about 3 other dryeye zoners are going in the next month as well, theres a thread in the open forum which is quite long.

He only does the treatment in LA, beverly hills, they are 1 month-3 weeks apart.

[sazy123]

Doctor is doing IPL for dry eye in new york!

Dr Christopher Coad with Chelsea Eye & Cosmetic Surgery Associates is also doing it! In NEWYORK.... so there you go RobLIC
http://www.chelseaeye.com/

http://wbztv.com/local/dry.eye.treatment.2.1004860.html

I found the main news article for the one Phillip posted:

Quote:
Skin Treatment Offers Dry Eye Sufferers Relief
Reporting
Mallika Marshall, MD
BOSTON (WBZ) ―

[Click to zoom.] Click to enlarge
Doctors say it was by chance that they discovered a skin treatment used for acne and rosacea also helps people who suffer from dry eyes.

WBZ
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numSlides of totalImages
Dry eye affects 59 million Americans, and it's often difficult to treat. Drops and warm compresses give patients some relief, but it's usually only temporary.

Now doctors are finding a skin treatment can help ease dry eye.

Season Newberry suffers from dry eye and has to use eye drops about 15 times a day.

"They can be painful, your vision is hazy - it's like you're looking through foggy glass sometimes, and it's just really annoying," she said.

Newberry works for an eye doctor who's decided to try something new to improve her tear production -- intense pulsed light therapy or IPL.

"It's the quality of tears, not necessarily the wetness of tears," said Dr. Christopher Coad with Chelsea Eye & Cosmetic Surgery Associates.

Our tears are more than water. Moisture is locked in by an oily layer and that oil is produced by glands under the eye.

In many dry eye patients the glands are blocked and don't secrete enough oil, causing water to evaporate.

The warm light therapy opens up the glands, improving moisture.

Because the procedure is so new only a handful of doctors are doing it.

"There's no downside," said Dr. Coad. "It doesn't cause damage to the eye. It doesn't cause damage to the skin."

Newberry has only undergone one treatment. Most patients need four, and it's not a cure.

"I'm not expecting miracles, but some improvement would be really nice," she said.

This procedure was actually discovered by accident. IPL was invented to treat skin conditions like rosacea and acne, but soon skin patients were telling doctors how their dry eye improved.
But im not sure if he does the bottom eyelids like Dr toyos does. Think worth finding out..

[happygirl14]

Great Information

Hi Everybody.

I absolutely love this thread. I have read just about every post on this board for the last two years although I have never posted. Don't know why I just didn't.

I have had dry eye for the last 2 years. It came on suddenly and like so many of the stories I have read on this dez I too went to many doctors before I was diagnosed with ocular rosacea. I have been following the IPL for about 2 years and really they have been doing this procedure for at least that amount of time. Many doctors don't know about it yet though so when I would ask them about it they looked at me like I was from outer space and really I was just ahead of them in the research.

I talked to someone last fall who went to the Rosacea Institute in Texas and had this IPL and a deeper procedure done (I will get the name of it) and he said that he was just about cleared of his Ocular Rosacea after suffering with it for 17 years. If he needs touch ups he goes and gets them.

I myself have not done it yet but am very close to setting an appointment up with someone. Not sure who yet. It's sad we have to research so hard but I guess that is how things have been discovered.

I live in Maryland if anyone knows of a good dr who does the procedure here I would like to know their name and go talk to them. I do manage alot the dry eye symptoms myself but if I could get more relief it would be great. I do however love dwelle and have used it for the last year now and it seems to give me the most relief. I can go hours with dwelle and not have to use other drops. It took awhile to get the relief from the dwelle though like for me about 1 month. I also use restasis and that took a long time to find any relief from that but I finally did. But as Sazy says I want a cure or a close as we can get.

Thanks Autumn and Sazy for doing this. It will bring hope to others I am sure and the video of the Doctor in New York was really interesting. It scared me a little though cause he looked like he didn't put any shields on her eyes. Nothing is getting that close to my eye without a shield. Does Toyos use shields? Just Wondering.

[annamarg]

[QUOTE=sazy123;41371]Doctor is doing IPL for dry eye in new york!

Dr Christopher Coad with Chelsea Eye & Cosmetic Surgery Associates is also doing it! In NEWYORK.... so there you go RobLIC
http://www.chelseaeye.com/

http://wbztv.com/local/dry.eye.treatment.2.1004860.html



Thanks a lot for the information!! I haven't got plugs yet (very hard to get it here in Sweden) but I will either before or after the summer. So I'll see if that will help me. Will be very interesting to hear from you after your IPL treatments! Good luck!
Anna

[msienkiewicz]

Check this out:

Maybe we could do it from home.

It mentions rosecea.

http://www.light4beauty.com/products.html#buynow

My aunt had an infrared heating element like a hand wand to help with her arthritis in her hand. I have it and am tempted to use it on my cheeks and see what happens. Will let you know if I get brave enough to try.

Melissa

[msienkiewicz]

Another thought -
Did anyone have any luck with metrogel for rosecea helping their eyes.

Melissa

[happygirl14]

Metrogel

I do remember reading a post here on this board under the cured about a girl using metrogel on her lids. She used restasis and also doxy. It took her about 18 months to 2 years to go in remission but she finally did.

I personally tried the metrogel on my lid and it was very very very irritating and I could not do it. It also says to keep away from eyes.

So this is what i do now and i have had alot of relief and sometimes when I am really lucky I forget I even have dry eye but not often especially when I have to use a computer.

rice baggies 2xtimes a day am & pm
wash face and eye lids with tea tree soap(this seems to help alot actually)
restasis 2 x day am & pm
Dwelle drops as necessary

This routine has helped alot. It took me over 18 months to get some control. I have had dry eye for over 2 years now.

I still am considering doing the IPL to see if it helps even further. I am watching the post closely with Autumn and Sazy and any others who are doing the IPL who have mgd and ocular rosacea.

[msienkiewicz]

I am hoping to get some of that dwelle soon.

You say you use it as necessary. How often is that if you don't mind me asking?

Does the dwelle really last longer than other drops?

I am anxious to try it when it becomes available.

Melissa

[msienkiewicz]

Happygirl,

Do you have plugs?

Melissa

[happygirl14]

Dwelle & Plugs

Melissa,

No I do not have plugs. I tried them temporarily, the kind that dissolve and they irritated my eyes like crazy. The doctor didn't seem to think I was a good canidate but I am not totally sure of that since I tried them when I had no control whatsoever over my dry eye and wasn't doing lid wash or rice baggies at all at the time. It was when I was very first diagnosed. So I might do better now than I did with them orginally.

I use Dwelle everyday sometimes more than others. It took about a month before I noticed I could go longer periods of time without putting in drops every 1-2 hours. I was very faithful to use them too cause I read so many posts that said you have to let them work over time. They are the best drops I have ever used and I have used every drop over the counter known to man. The only drop I don't think I have tried is Freshkote.

Now I use the Dwelle about 3 times a day and my eyes at times actually feel normal. Sometimes only 2 times a day if I don't have to use the computer or read alot.
Btw sometimes Dwelle stings a little when you put them in it goes away.

Laurie

[msienkiewicz]

Wow!

I am so impressed with the stories that I hear about the dwelle. I will definitely try this as I am where you were 1-2 hours. That's why I use the lacriserts. I am really wondering if I should get the plugs now or wait a bit. I have an appointment tomorrow.

Do you have MGD and lack of oil as well?

I found a Dr in Michigan who will do the IPL procedure as well.

His name is Dr. Mark Berkowitz medical director of Accents Cosmetic Surgery and Medical Spa. He is an occular plastics guy. He seemed to really know his stuff. He told me to wait with the plugs. He told me he would want to exhaust all other measures, but WOULD do the IPL if all else failed. He will certainly treat my facial brown spots and redness. YAH!

Heis connected with the Vision Institute of Michigan. They are all housed in one building. I was very impressed with my free consultation. He was very aware of Dr. T's work.

Melissa

[Gretchen]

Wait on the plugs

Melissa -

If you have ocular rosacea, it would indeed be a good idea to wait on getting plugs. We have inflammatory components to our tears and keeping them on the surface of our eyes is not a good idea. Maybe once you get the inflammation under control...It sounds like you found a good doctor. Very important.

Thanks,
Gretchen

[msienkiewicz]

Gretchen,

I have been so on the fence about this, but I think you are right. Dr. Berkowiwtz told me to wait until I saw him before I did it as well. I also just talked to another friend, and I don't think I would want to get them on a Thursday in case something went wrong, and with my luck I would need to be seen on a Saturday.

Thanks for the advice, and I think I will wait a bit longer.

Melissa

[itchyeyes]

Check this out:

Maybe we could do it from home.

It mentions rosecea.

http://www.light4beauty.com/products.html#buynow

My aunt had an infrared heating element like a hand wand to help with her arthritis in her hand. I have it and am tempted to use it on my cheeks and see what happens. Will let you know if I get brave enough to try.

Melissa

Great post... it would be great if IPL and other light treatments could help us all. I was considering IPL when I first started GW/amber light treatments. That was before I had dry eye and before they noticed it helped for that prolly. I have my own amber led light now and I'm using it every other day on my eyes.

[alex123711]

Anyone know of any IPL places in other countries? I went to a boston scleral lenses centre in Japan which was very professional and high tech and the lenses would have cost about half as much as in the U.S