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Home » News » What Is the OptiLight by Lumenis & How Can It Manage Your Dry Eye?

What Is the OptiLight by Lumenis & How Can It Manage Your Dry Eye?

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Dry eye disease is a widespread and common issue for up to 49 million Americans. This chronic condition can have a significant impact on your quality of life, causing a foreign body sensation in your eyes, pain, blurry vision, and dry or watery eyes. Untreated, it can even lead to further eye health complications.

Despite these constant detrimental effects on quality of life, many dry eye sufferers are not aware that they’re suffering from dry eye disease or that real treatments exist. Instead, they just live with the discomfort.

Through innovative dry eye diagnosis and treatment solutions, our team at An Eye to the Future is dedicated to helping you discover you don’t have to just live with the discomfort—in fact, you can overcome it.

We’re proud to offer OptiLight by Lumenis to our patients, specially designed for dry eye management.

What Is OptiLight by Lumenis?

OptiLight by Lumenis is a light-based, non-invasive treatment done in the area below the eyes to manage dry eye. The first and only IPL FDA-approved for dry eye management.

The treatment is safe, gentle, and is backed by more than 20 clinical studies.

How Does It Work?

OptiLight uses precise pulses of light to reduce the inflammation that is typically associated with dry eye disease, improve tear break-up time, and increase meibomian gland functionality.

This application can significantly relieve dry eye indicators and has a multi-factorial effect, including:

  • Increasing tear break-up time
  • Reducing the amount of Demodex mites and bacteria living around your eyes
  • Eliminating blood vessels that contribute to inflammation
  • Improving meibomian gland functionality

What to Expect

Before Your Treatment

To diagnose your dry eye and get an understanding of your unique condition, your doctor will use a combination of diagnostic tests. These tests include:

  • Lipiscan to measure your meibomian gland function
  • Anterior segment imaging to evaluate the eye surface
  • Tests to determine tear break up time

When preparing for treatment, it’s vital to avoid tanning and stay out of the sun without proper sunscreen. You should also arrive to your appointment with no lotion or makeup on your face as it will be removed before treatment.

During Your Treatment

This treatment is fast and simple. During the treatment your doctor will apply a coupling gel on the treatment area and cover your eyes with shields.

As light is applied to the skin, you may experience a warm sensation. The treatment is gentle with minimum discomfort. The treatment itself will only take 10–15 minutes.

OptiLight is often followed by meibomian gland expression [depending on the doctor].

After Your Treatment

Following treatment, you may notice slight redness on your eyes, eyelids, and face. This redness usually goes away within a few hours but may last up to 3 days. Just like before your treatment, you should avoid tanning and use at least SPF-30 sunscreen on your face. Use only gentle cleansers and lotions on the treatment area.

After your treatment you may experience:

  • Redness
  • Swelling
  • Vision fluctuations
  • Scratchiness
  • Light sensitivity

These are usually mild and completely normal side effects after treatment.

Part of Your Custom Treatment Plan

A course of treatment typically includes 4 sessions spaced 2–4 weeks apart.

Most patients see improvements in their dry eye symptoms after 3–4 treatments. In addition to OptiLight, we offer other treatments such as:

  • Lipiflow for meibomian gland expression
  • BlephEx to treat blepharitis
  • Prescription eye drops to moisturize the eye surface
  • Eyelid scrubs to reduce irritation

Your doctor will work with you to determine which treatment options are right for you to get you the relief you need from itchy, irritated, and painful dry eye symptoms.

Will the OptiLight by Lumenis Work for Me?

While OptiLight by Lumenis is an effective dry eye management solution, we want to make sure it’s right for you. We do not recommend this treatment if you:

  • Suffer from aqueous deficiency dry eye (rather than evaporative dry eye or meibomian gland dysfunction)
  • Have a history of keloid scarring
  • Have severe scarring around your eyes

Ultimately, your doctor is the only person who can determine whether this option is right for you. During your next appointment, ask us if you are a good candidate for OptiLight by Lumenis.

You Don’t Have to Live With Dry Eye Anymore

Dry, irritated eyes can be managed with a new treatment that brings comfort and can restore quality of life. Visit your eye doctor to get an accurate diagnosis and a treatment plan tailored to your needs.