IPL for home treatment

[kylix]

according to this article IPL should be developed for home treatment and available by the end of this year:
http://www.healio.com/ophthalmology/...nt-for-dry-eye

[bunnyrabbit123]

Kylix, thanks so much for this post. Something better than the godforsaken compresses that are killing the thin skin arounds my eyes and depressing me even further would be so welcome. Fingers crossed that this works, is available soon and doesn't cost the earth!

[Max52]

I don't much at all about IPL. Is it supposed to benefit people with MGD or only those with rosacea?

[spmcc]

This device is supposed to maintain you after you've had IPL. In other words, double whammy to the wallet!

[grant555]

agreed looks likea scam to get more money

[poppy]

agreed looks likea scam to get more money

I agree

When patient complains the ipl didn't help, Dr will tell them it is because they aren't doing the at-home thing

[LaDiva]

For Max- I had IPL done about three years ago. The doctor told me at that time that he had very good luck helping people with Meibomian Gland problems who had little or no aqueous deficiency. He said he had never treated anyone with tear problems AND oil problems, and that he wasn't sure how well the treatments would work for me. The first treatment raised my TBUT from 3 to 8, but beyond that there was no further improvement. I did the four treatments, and then did not return for more. Did it help? Yes, a little, but not the magic wand I had hoped for.

[neilw]

My wife is a patient of Dr Toyos and has had reasonable success with IPL. She will be continuing maintenance treatments with him. We have seen an early prototype of this "at home" device.
Dr Toyos was conducting trials of this device but my wife was deemed to be ineligible because she had had IPL. But he told my wife she would be able to use the device in the future at home and would no longer need her IPL maintenance treatments.
Dr Toyos told us that he is trying to find a cheaper method to deliver the benefits of IPL to MGD sufferers.

[bunnyrabbit123]

Hi Neil,
I'm surprised that Kathy was ineligible for the trials because she had already had ipl. I've pm'd you, as I'm interested in this-Thank you for this bit of info.

[Rebecca Petris]

You know what this thread title reminded me of... any of you been around long enough to remember this site? LOL.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[LaDiva]

LOL Rebecca! A whole world of possibilities emerge. Tonsillectomy@home, Facelift@home, Nosejob@home...

[neilw]

Lasik at home does seem riisky. But having witnessed 8 IPL treatments on my wife, plus having had one done on myself just to see what it feels like, I don't think it right to compare the two things.

Even more importantly, we have seen the device that Dr Toyos is developing and the way he proposes it to be used. It is almost impossible to imagine it causing damage, unless one used it as a projectile and threw it into someone else's eye.

I think he genuinely is trying to come up with a device that is easy to use and will be beneficial in treating dry eye. I do not believe his motivation is financial - I doubt many medical specialists in the US are strapped for cash. I have no idea if it will actually work but we certainly hope it will. For us it will mean not having to fly to Nashville, nice town though it is.

[lizlou29]

You know what this thread title reminded me of... any of you been around long enough to remember this site? LOL.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Do you have April Fool's Day in the US? I thought the last picture in the step by step guide was going to be a trip to the emergency room. Oh dear!

[Rebecca Petris]

Do you have April Fool's Day in the US?

Yup. Oops. A little off schedule.

Neil, I really was just indulging my funny bone... not in any way intending to denigrate Dr. Toyos' work.

[neilw]

Rebecca
I realised you were only joking and any bit of humour is always welcome, I think.
I can also fully understand the sceptical reactions to anything new as most often these new treatments lead to nothing other than a lightening of our wallets/purses. But, on the other hand, there are actually quite a few researchers and doctors out there who are working towards a cure or at least advances to alleviate dry eye sufferer's symptoms.
Personally, my first reaction to anything is scepticism, and I do not yet know how this IPL at home device will work, but I can say that of all the treatments we have so far tried for my wife's dry eye, IPL with Dr Toyos is the only one that has improved her.