Monday, February 23, 2015

Combination therapy for dry eye disease

In dry eye disease, the cause is sometimes the malfunctioning of the meibomian glands, which make an essential component of healthy tear film.  And many dry eye treatments are focused on getting those glands working again.

A new study published in the journal Cornea suggests that a combination treatment consisting of daily lid wipes, artificial tears and the right nutritional supplements can improve meibomian gland function and dry eye symptoms after three months compared with a regimen of warm compresses applied to the eyes once a day. 

 Warm compresses is an old and standard treatment and often the first thing to try for dry eye. The study suggests that skipping warm compresses and going with a combination of treatments works much better. 

As with any treatment, check with your eye doctor before trying it.

Source:
Effect of Using a Combination of Lid Wipes, Eye Drops, and Omega-3 Supplements on Meibomian Gland Functionality in Patients With Lipid Deficient/Evaporative Dry Eye
Cornea 2015 Feb 03;[EPub Ahead of Print], DR Korb, CA Blackie, VM Finnemore, T Douglass