The dry eye therapies on the market are based on an attempt to indirectly address the scourge of the new age, the dry eye problem. Dry eye syndrome occurs either due to insufficient tear secretion or due to disturbances in the quality of the tear film.
The most common problem with dry eye is Meibomian gland dysfunction. Meibomian glands are those glands responsible for creating the quality of the tear film. It means very little to us if the eye produces more tears and we do not improve their quality. Here is a solution that actually comes from the revolutionary nature of the LipiFlow device available at the Svjetlost Eye Clinic in Zagreb.
This Johnson & Johnson device acts directly on the Meibomian glands to increase their functionality.
What does that mean?
Today we blink less and consequently, there is a decrease in the amount of glandular function that becomes clogged, like when we get pimples on the face. The glands lose function.
With its unique technology, LipiFlow works by first heating the glands themselves without affecting the eye. The lower and upper eyelids are heated, and after that, with very specific, rhythmic pulses, the melted fat is expelled from the glands. Thus we get the effect that we "reset" the glands and allow them to take over their function again.
The tear film itself consists of 3 basic parts:
• Mucosal saccharide layer as an adhesive that ensures that the drop itself does not slip out of the eye
• The water layer is actually the part we all know - it's a tear
• A layer of fat actually has small protection over their own water so they do not immediately evaporate.
Meibomian glands are actually responsible for the creation of this aforementioned fat layer and if we have a lot of tears, but they're gone, most likely there is dysfunction in the generation of the tear film and the fat layer.
Women in the pre- and postmenopausal age are most affected because a decrease in the amount of estrogen leads to a decrease in the amount of production of that fat layer. Every time we blink we release a little fat from the eye. When we do not blink, which is actually a characteristic of modern life and looking at the screen, that is, when we blink less, the glands begin to dry out and form on them like a small plug. The old ways of caring for eyelids by heating the eyelids with pads actually led to it being good and working.
LipiFlow treatment lasts 12 minutes and in more than 86% of people, it has an effect.
There is an effect that usually lasts at least 6 months. Unlike other systems on the market, LipiFlow acts directly, directly on the Meibomian glands, it opens them and has phenomenal results.
As for the results of the therapy at the Svjetlost Eye Clinic, Ivan Gabrić, MD says: “I have been struggling with dry eye for years and I can say that I feel way better. One treatment and 6 months you are calm. Literally!"
