Have you ever…

• felt like your eyes are burning, stinging or feel gritty?
• felt like your vision fluctuates throughout the day?
• had difficulty with reading or working on a computer for an extended duration?
• had discomfort with contact lens wear by the end of the day?

If so, you are likely to be experiencing symptoms of dry eye, a condition that affects around one-third of the population. Factors such as age, female gender, medical conditions and medications, the environment you work in and diet are just a few known associations. Most of the time it is a combination of these factors at play that causes dry eye. Severity can vary from mildly irritating to disabling and can adversely affect your quality of life.

Tears provide lubrication, protect and deliver nutrients to the eye surface. Dry eye can compromise these functions and have long term effects on overall eye health.  Therefore ongoing tailored management strategies are often required.

The clinical team at Mortimer Hirst can help diagnose and formulate a treatment plan so that this frustrating condition will not compromise your lifestyle.  

Treatment options in mild or intermittent cases involve the appropriate selection of artificial tears. We can give you advice on at-home therapies that you can perform yourself to encourage the healthy components of the tear film to occur naturally, in addition to the right food types and or dietary supplements.

More moderate to severe cases may require additional therapies, delivered by the clinical team, to help repair the eye surface. Therapies such as Blephasteam and E-Eye Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) are now available at Mortimer Hirst. Your optometrist can advise if you would benefit from these. Additional therapeutic agents can be prescribed to stop the ongoing cycle of dryness and restore the eyes’ natural balance.  

If you have any concerns with dry eye or are not sure if what you are experiencing is dry eye, please consult our team of optometrists who aim to provide practical advice and will work with you to optimise your eye health.

Artificial tears are eye surface lubricants, which aim to stabilise and supplement the tear film. There are a number of products available at pharmacies, often causing confusion as to which one to use. After your eye examination, your optometrist can recommend the most suitable eye drop or combination of lubricants specific to your eye condition.

Dietary Supplements: Essential fatty acids, found naturally in certain food types, are crucial for our tears. One of the most important components of healthy tears is a layer of natural oil known as meibum. This is released by the meibomian glands which line the eyelids. Often, dry eyes are caused by a lack, or poor consistency, of meibum. Your optometrist will be able to see if this is the root cause of your dry eyes and advise on the types of foods to eat more of and/or introduce the most appropriate supplement to help you add the right oils into your diet.    

Blephasteam is a new treatment that can be performed by your optometrist. It involves wearing a pair of humidified and heated eye goggles for 10-15 minutes. This works to improve meibomian gland function. Once the heating is complete your optometrist will perform a manual expression of the glands to dislodge any blockages and increase the outflow of the meibum into the tears.

E-Eye Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) is new long-term treatment strategy for ongoing dry eye disease. It involves applying intense pulsed light to the area beneath your lower eyelid to help stimulate the meibomian glands to improve their oil producing function. We recommend that three sessions are performed to obtain the best results from this treatment. Top-up treatments can be applied if required. 

Inflammatory eye drops: The optometrists at Mortimer Hirst are all therapeutically qualified. This gives them the ability to prescribe medications to help treat and manage the ocular surface inflammation that presents with dry eye. This can often kick-start the resolution of your sore, gritty or tired feeling eyes. More recently the optometrists’ scope of practice has been expanded to allow them to prescribe certain oral medications that can help treat eye disease. Speak to your optometrist about whether these adjunct therapies may be appropriate for you. 

Emilie Langley, Optometrist, www.emilielangley.co.nz

Mortimer Hirst Takapuna, 42-44 Hurstmere Road Takapuna 09 486 1952 info@mortimerhirst.co.nz