Understanding Intense Pulsed Light Therapy

Dry eye syndrome can cause irritating symptoms and impact your ability to enjoy day-to-day life. This condition occurs when your eyes do not produce enough tears or only produce poor-quality tears, causing poor corneal health and decreased visual clarity. Fortunately, Pflugerville Vision Care in Pflugerville, TX, can treat and manage dry eye symptoms using several methods, including intense pulsed light therapy. Our family optometrist is here to tell you about intense pulsed light therapy and how it can treat dry eye.

What Is Intense Pulsed Light Therapy?

Intense pulsed light therapy uses a powerful light to reduce inflammation around the eye. Your optometrist uses this therapy to warm the meibomian glands, allowing the eyes to receive proper lubrication. Intense pulsed light therapy breaks up hardened oils in the glands, mostly by reducing inflammation deep in the cells, which ultimately improves meibomian gland function and helps your eyes produce better quality tears.

How Is Intense Pulsed Light Therapy Done?

Your optometrist will have you sit in an examination chair and put an eye shield over your eyes. Then a small device administers several light pulses below and next to the eyes. While this is a painless procedure, you may experience some quick sensations of warmth around your eyes. This helps to reduce inflammation in the oil glands, ultimately breaking up the impacted oil.  The treatment works best when paired with expression of the oil glands where the old oil is pushed out of the glands to make room for healthy oil, all resulting in improved oil flow, replenishing the tear film’s oil layer. (Pflugerville Vision Care uses iLux for thermal expression.)

You will typically have four to five monthly intense pulsed light therapy sessions to treat dry eye syndrome effectively. Your optometrist may recommend more sessions depending on the severity of your condition.

Get Eye Care Near You at Pflugerville Vision Care to Experience Healthier Eyes

Dry eye symptoms can disrupt your daily life and cause several eye and vision problems if left untreated, so contact Pflugerville Vision Care in Pflugerville, TX, to alleviate dry eye symptoms with intense pulsed light therapy today. Call us and schedule an eye exam at (512) 251-4099 to improve your eye and vision health.