Another IPL story with Dr Assil

[Michael2]

For those considering IPL...

After 4 months of constant burning, irritation, and pain in both eyes (and eyelid margin), I decided to take the IPL route (after warm compresses and azasite did very little). I am a young male, no LASIK or accutane history, white eyes, who showed up with dry eye overnight. My doctor is Dr. Assil, in Beverly Hills...

When I asked whether this constant pain could really be attributed to 'dry eye,' Dr. Assil mentioned that all our nerves and bodies are so different, so it's honestly impossible to tell. If everything else is ruled out (in my case, literally everything else has been ruled out), then most likely it's a bad case of evaporative dry eye mixed with me having sensitive nerves. He did tell me there were underlying signs of ocular rosacea. If that's the case, IPL should be helpful. If IPL is not helpful, then it may also be caused by misfiring signals in the brain...I've been told by pain management that they can be very helpful with that.

So I chose to go ahead with the treatment, and it is not for the faint of heart. The IPL was only on 'acne' setting, and it still was very very unpleasant. This being the first treatment, I have seen almost no improvement. That being said, I was told that my glands were not overtly blocked, but were not showing any liquid coming out whatsover. After the treatment, there was a very slight increase in gland expression, with subtle signs of liquid. I'm told not to expect much improvement for a while...

If anyone wants some more information on the treatment, feel free to PM me. I will keep everyone updated with the progress

[Rebecca Petris]

Thanks for sharing about this, and we'll be looking forward to hearing how things progress for you.

... I have seen almost no improvement. That being said, I was told that my glands were not overtly blocked, but were not showing any liquid coming out whatsover. After the treatment, there was a very slight increase in gland expression, with subtle signs of liquid. I'm told not to expect much improvement for a while...

It's great to hear the detail. I think that what remains for many of us a relatively mysterious area is whether, how and to what extent the MG secretion condition peculiar to each one of us can be improved... whether we're apparently atrophied, have low production, 'bad quality' oil, oil that clogs, etc.

I think that it's also often been reported in the forums that clinical improvement precedes symptomatic improvement... i.e. the doc thinks we're better before we are able to agree. So maybe good things are yet in store for you with IPL.