At Eyes of the Southwest, we’re proud to be the first in Southern New Mexico to offer specialized care for dry eye. Our clinic is dedicated to helping those suffering from dry eye, a condition that affects millions of people each year and a leading cause of blurred and irritated eyes in Southern New Mexico.
Whether you’re dealing with mild discomfort or more severe symptoms, our team is here to provide personalized care and advanced treatments to help you find relief. We understand how dry eye can impact your daily life, and we’re committed to offering the latest solutions to restore comfort and improve your eye health.
Dry eye happens when your eyes don’t make enough tears to stay properly lubricated or when the quality of your tears is insufficient to keep your eyes moist. There are many factors that can contribute to dry eye, causing tears to become inadequate and unstable.
The condition can make your eyes feel uncomfortable, and in some cases, it can also cause vision problems. However, dry eye is a common issue that affects millions of people each year but can often be effectively managed with a range of treatments, including simple lifestyle changes.
Dry eye can cause a variety of symptoms that may affect your comfort and vision. Dry eye can cause various symptoms, such as:
These symptoms can vary in intensity, from mild discomfort to more severe. If the symptoms are severe or persistent, it can significantly impact someone’s quality of life.
Anyone can develop dry eye, but you might be more likely to have dry eye if you:
Understanding these risk factors can help with early detection and effective management of dry eye.
There are several simple changes you can make to help manage dry eye. First, make sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day to stay hydrated, as dehydration can make dry eye symptoms worse.
It’s also a good idea to avoid smoking and secondhand smoke, which can irritate your eyes. Try to keep your eyes away from direct airflow, like fans or air conditioning, which can dry them out. If you spend a lot of time reading or using devices, be sure to blink more often and consider using artificial tears to keep your eyes moist.
Just like brushing your teeth, your eyelids need daily attention.
Regularly cleaning them with products like Avenova or Zocufoam can help prevent irritation and keep your eyes feeling fresh. Plus, using a warm compress and gently massaging your eyelids can help your tear glands work better, improving the quality of your tears.
Incorporating omega-3 fish oil supplements into your routine can also make a difference. These can support tear production and improve overall eye health.
Finally, frequent use of preservative free artificial tears or lubricating ointments to provide extra moisture when needed, may be helpful, especially in dry or windy environments. By making these changes, you can improve your eye comfort and better manage dry eye.
If lifestyle changes don’t seem to improve your dry eye, it’s a good idea to schedule an eye exam with your eye doctor at Eyes of the Southwest. During the exam, your eye doctor can assess the severity of your condition and recommend the best course of treatment.
They may suggest prescription eye drops or other medications to help reduce inflammation and improve tear production. In some cases, your doctor might recommend additional treatments, such as special devices or procedures, to provide long-term relief and prevent further irritation.
At Eyes of the Southwest, we offer a range of effective treatments to help manage dry eye and improve comfort. Here are some of the options available:
OptiLIGHT is an Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) therapy that uses light in a 15-minute treatment with no down time to reduce inflammation and help improve the function of the meibomian glands, which are responsible for producing the oil in your tears. This treatment can help stabilize the tear film and reduce symptoms of dry eye.
OptiLIGHT is the first and only IPL FDA approved for dry eye management. IPL can stop the dry eye vicious cycle of inflammation by:
The InfinityPro is a low-level light therapy device that uses a therapeutic approach known as photobiomodulation, which involves the application of low-intensity LED light to penetrate affected areas of the skin to stimulate cellular activity. As particles of light are absorbed by mitochondria in the cells, this increases the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to help enhance cellular metabolism and trigger tissue growth and healing without causing any damage. LED therapy is a non-ablative process that doesn’t just only treat symptoms, it revitalizes the health of the skin from the inside-out.
With 5 different LED colors plus combined infrared technology, each color of light available on the InfinityPro corresponds to a specific wavelength. And because different wavelengths can target specific cellular responses at different depths, the InfinityPro system gives practitioners an unmatched level of therapeutic benefits they can provide to patients with varying skin conditions.
Red light therapy increases fibroblast activity and stimulates the production of collagen an essential protein responsible for the skin’s elasticity and firmness to help promote skin rejuvenation and reduce fine lines and wrinkles.
Red light can also improve meibomian gland function, improve dry eyes, accelerate wound healing, reduce the appearance of unwanted veins, restore new blood vessel production, minimize scarring, and decrease redness and inflammation.
Blue light therapy is a powerful acne treatment solution. It emits an anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory effect, targeting and killing acne-causing bacteria and reducing inflammatory cytokine production to clear up the skin and control future breakouts.
Blue light also helps control sebum production, a major contributing factor to acne to help prevent clogged pores and promote a smoother skin complexion.
Yellow light therapy offers many of the same anti-aging benefits as red light with its ability to improve skin tone and texture. It is especially effective in reducing redness and irritation, particularly for patients with sensitive skin or conditions such as rosacea.
Yellow light can also enhance lymphatic circulation and function, which plays a vital role in supporting detoxification and eliminating toxins in the body, leading to healthier-looking skin.
Green light therapy penetrates the sublayers of the skin to target melanocytes and reduce melanin stimulation, which causes dark spots on the skin. With less melanin reaching the skin surface, hyperpigmentation and discolorations gradually diminish.
Green light, much like red light, is also able to target hemoglobin absorption and help coagulate blood vessels, causing spider veins or small varicose veins to fade and become less conspicuous.
Pink light therapy uses a combination of red and blue light. It eliminates Propionibacterium, which is the bacteria responsible for acne breakouts, and uses its strong anti-inflammatory properties to help decrease skin redness and swelling. It can help resolve eyelid chalazion and styes.
Pink light can also reduce the appearance of acne-related scars and contribute to skin rejuvenation and the improvement of other skin conditions.
Infrared light therapy penetrates the skin deeper than other light wavelengths and is used to help accelerate skin tissue metabolism, healing, and regenerative effects. It stimulates vascular repair and has been shown to reduce visible telangiectasia.
Infrared light is a multi-faceted wavelength that can also accelerate wound healing, reduce pain and inflammation, increase collagen and skin elasticity, and provide many other anti-aging and skin rejuvenation benefits. Infrared light therapy can be added to the other light treatments.
BlephEx® is a specialized procedure performed by our doctors to actively clean the margins of your eyelids. By safely and effectively removing bacteria and debris from the eyelid area, BlephEx® addresses the root causes of eyelid symptoms, providing long-lasting relief by improving the quality of your tears.
BlephEx addresses two common eye conditions: blepharitis and dry eyes. Blepharitis is an inflammation of the eyelids, causing redness, itchiness, and a gritty sensation. Dry eyes, on the other hand, occur when your tear glands don’t produce enough tears to keep your eyes adequately lubricated. Both conditions can be uncomfortable and affect your vision.
ZEST (Zocular Eyelid System Treatment) is an exciting new treatment developed by Zocular® to treat dry eye, demodex and blepharitis. Dry eye and blepharitis are often associated with poor hygiene of the eye area. ZEST is an in-office lid cleaning and debridement system using a natural okra-based gel. The procedure is quick and painless, bringing immediate relief to symptoms of irritation and dry eye.
Zest is a procedure designed to gently exfoliate the eyelids to stimulate the meibomian glands and enhance the flow of oils in the tears. This treatment can help alleviate the discomfort caused by blocked or underperforming glands.
TearCare is a device that applies gentle heat to the eyelids to help clear blockages in the meibomian glands. This treatment helps stimulate tear production and improve the quality of your tears.
During TearCare treatment, your eyes remain open, and you can blink naturally, making it a comfortable and easy procedure. The gentle heat helps loosen any blockages in the glands, allowing your eye doctor to help open them and restore proper tear flow for quicker relief.
Maskin gland probing, also known as meibomian gland probing (MGP), is a minimally invasive procedure that uses a wire probe to relieve blockages in the meibomian glands:
MGP is a key treatment for dry eye that relieves pressure and blockages in the meibomian glands, which are responsible for producing a lipid-protein mixture that stabilizes the tear film.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) eye drops are a treatment option for dry eye disease and other ocular surface disorders:
PRP eye drops are made from a patient’s own blood and contain platelets, plasma, and bioactive proteins. Platelets contain growth factors that help with tissue repair, while plasma stabilizes the platelets’ function.
PRP eye drops are similar to natural tears in composition, pH, and osmolarity. They can help with severe dry eye, especially when the cornea is damaged or inflamed. PRP eye drops can also help with ocular surface and corneal diseases.
PRP eye drops contain growth factors, vitamins, and cytokines that help repair damaged corneal and conjunctival epithelium. They also have anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties.
PRP drops are an emerging treatment that uses your own blood’s platelets to promote healing and stimulate tear production. Eyes of the Southwest is the first practice in Southern New Mexico to offer PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) eye drops, providing an even more powerful solution for dry eye sufferers.
For patients with more persistent symptoms, prescription dry eye medications like Miebo, Restasis, Xiidra, or Cequa can help reduce inflammation, improve lubrication and encourage tear production, providing long-term relief.
We are happy to partner with DryEye Rescue, a company that provides dry eye care products and services for patients and eye care professionals. Eyes of the Southwest has many dry eye products available in office and available on the DryEye Rescue website. Remember to use code EOTSW20 at checkout to receive a great discount.
DryEye Rescue sells a wide range of dry eye products, including lubricating eye drops, eyelid hygiene products, and at-home treatments.
DryEye Rescue offers a platform for patients to shop for dry eye products, learn about dry eye disease.
DryEye Rescue Discount Code – EOTSW20
Are you experiencing symptoms of dry eye? Would you like to learn more about the above treatment options? Then schedule an appointment at Eyes of the Southwest in Las Cruces, NM, today!