My experience with IPL with Dr. Sanjay Kamat

[NeedMyEyes]

My second IPL treament with Dr. Kamat near Philadelphia

Exactly 3 weeks after my first IPL treatment, I returned to Philadelphia to see Dr. Kamat for the second treatment. I was supposed to wait 4 weeks, but some people only wait 3 weeks depending upon the situation.

Dr. Kamat examined my glands this time and said that my TBUT was dramatically improved since last time (it was a 4 last time and now is at least a 6 and maybe more like a 10). Also, while he was checking my glands with a qtip before the procedure he said "I definitely couldn't do this last time you were here..." and I asked what he meant and he said "express your glands like this". He said I have around 25% open with clear oil, 50% completely closed and another 25% making thick goopy yellow-tan stuff.

It sounds like progress but I want to point out that I have done some other things since then - I had the intraductal meibomian gland probing which I think opened some glands. And I stopped using all the drops I am allergic to. So I am not sure which of these interventions is having the beneficial effect. Importanly though, I am improving objectively but not necessarily subjectively - meaning I still feel pretty dry most of the day.

So during this session, the second session, Dr. Kamat turned it up a little bit and this time I did start to feel a little heat with the IPL. On the second pass he finally turned it up to where Dr. Toyos normally starts on the first procedure. So I am a little frustrated by the fact that he is afraid to turn up the power at the early stages, but he is taking a more conservative approach to stay safe and see what is going to happen. I appreciate safety of course, but at the same time, I am soooo in need of relief from these symptoms.

Also, Dr. Kamat always seems to give my drops that make my eyes angry and irritated after the procedure. I think next time I will ask for no drops at all - we'll see what he says.

Dr. Kamat spent more than an hour with me today and answered all my questions and concerns. This session was also on a Saturday and I don't think you will find too many doctors willing to do IPL on a Saturday.

I'll post more updates soon regarding any side effects or any (hopefully) improvement.

Kamat Buck's Eye, Dry Eye, Philadelphia, Meibomian Gland, Dry Eye, Toyos

[NeedMyEyes]

5 days after first IPL treatment...

Okay, so a lot has happened with my eyes since the first treatment, so I thought it was time to post an update:

The first few days after the procedure, I noticed the meibomian glands were VERY prominent - they were sticking out at me in the mirror. So I can tell they were stimulated.

Also, my swollen lower eyelids are gone - further I can see a holllow in my cheeks (like I suddenly got really skinny) that I haven't seen in months (since before I got MGD 9 months ago).

Additionally, the skin where Dr. Kamat treated is really firm and smoot. All of the blackheads I had there are completely gone.

Finally, when I wake up in the morning - there is TONS of oil on my face where Dr. Kamat treated. I view this as stimulation of the sebaceous glands (which are oil producing just like the meibomian glands).

Personally, my problem is severe underproduction of oil from the meibomian glands so this "stimulation" of all the sebaceous and meibomian glands seems like a good thing to me.

Also, he put me on 5 days of Lotemax and it is really really burning when it goes in and it *seems* like it is drying my eyes out even more than they already were. So I stopped the lotemax. Still don't know if I have any improvement because of this "drying" effect of lotemax.

It is really hard to wait for improvement by the way, because just before the IPl several blood vessels on my eyeball started getting REALLY big and I am afraid they won't go away unless I do something quickly - and IPL is NOT a quick process.

[NeedMyEyes]

Okay, so I finally decided, after 9 months of horrible Meibomian Gland Dysfuntion, to get IPL. I've been on all the meds and done all the warm compresses and of course, no improvement whatsoever.

So, I called Dr. Toyos' office and his assistant gave me the names of all the eye doctors that follow his protocol. The closest to me is:

Dr. Sanjay D. Kamat in Yardley, PA. www.buckseyespecialists.com

I called Dr. Kamat's office and asked about the IPL. He talked to me for a total of 30 minutes on the phone. I asked him to make an appointment ASAP and he agreed to see me that Saturday even though he isn't normally open on Saturdays. Not only that, but the Saturday was his wife's birthday and he still agreed to see me... i was relieved because I really wanted to get started on my treatments.

By the way, he uses the same laser Dr. Toyos uses, charges exactly the same as Dr Toyos - $200 for the intitial and $375 for every treatment after that, does 2 passes on your face and eyelids and even does the expression afterwards. All exactly like Dr. Toyos would do it.

So I arrived on Saturday morning at his office - it is a small office in an office complex in Yardley (about 30 miles north of downtown Philly)

He spent a little over an hour with me during the appointment telling me about the procedure and the results I could expect, etc.

The procedure itself actually didn't hurt at all. I thought it was supposed to burn or feel like a rubberband popping on my skin, but I didn't feel anything. I also thought it would be hot - but it wasn't at all. So I really am not sure anything happened during the procedure.

I was a little worried about the safety of the procedure (because the eye protection you get is these little stick on bandages). He said next time he will put a special protective contact lens in each eye for more protection from the laser.

After he did an expression - and he said that the secretions were looking better than when we started. I don't see how though because I didn't feel a thing - no heat no stinging, nothing. By the way, it was a very thorough expression. He used Qtips on me, but he has had other patients ask for tweezers and paddles for a better expression. The Toyos protocol is just Qtips, so I was okay with that.

My eyes don't feel any different today than they did yesterday (a little wose with the steroid drops actually). So I can't report any immediate improvements.

As far as side effects after the procedure - I don't have anything. I don't see anything on my skin and I don't feel anything in my eyelids or in my eyes. I am taking the Lotemax / Azasite, etc. that he prescribed and that stuff stings my eyes a bit - but that's all.

Anyway, unless something bad happens (I don't THINK it will....), I am sure I will go back to Dr. Kamat for several more treatments. It is a pretty simple procedure and I don't see why you would have to go to Memphis to see Dr. Toyos. Especially since Dr. Kamat does it exactly like Dr. Toyos. Also, he was really nice and was willing to change a few things if I wanted him to.

NME

PS - I'll try to post my future expreiences in this thread and any improvements ...