WHAT IS INCLUDED IN A DRY EYE ASSESSMENT?

During your dry eye appointment, your optometrist will help you to create a tailored solution to help you get in control of your dry eye or blepharitis.

Initial appointments cost £80 and include:

• Optometrist questions about your condition
• Tear film quality and volume analysis
  
• Examination of the cornea and tear film with vital dyes to detect issues
  
• Examination of your lid margins to look for signs of inflammation
• Examine your meibomian glands to look for any dysfunction
• Professionally express your meibomian glands (normally £25)
  
• Clean your eyelid margins using BlephEx (normally £45)
  
• Develop a personalised management strategy for your particular type of dry eye and arrange a follow-up with you.

DRY EYES

Dry eyes are a condition that affects not only a patients quality of life, but also the clarity of their vision.

Symptoms of dry eye include:

• Red eyes
• Burning eyes
• Gritty/sandy feeling eyes
• Vision that is blurry, but improves when blinking
• Light sensitivity

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Many patients think the only thing they can do about their dry eyes is drops. This is not true. Many patients benefit from a combination of;

• Lid hygiene
• Hot compresses
• Adjustments to their environment
• Dietary changes
• Lubricating drops

Given this complicated list, we advise patients book in for a dedicated dry eye appointment if they are suffering with dry eyes, to allow us to assess their eyes and allow us to come up with a personalised management plan for their individual type of dry eye.

BLEPHARITIS

Blepharitis is closely linked with dry eye, and is a chronic inflammatory condition that affects the eye lids and their glands (also called meibomian gland dysfunction)

Symptoms of blepharitis include:

• Red eyes
• Burning eyes
• Gritty/sandy feeling eyes
• Vision that is blurry, but improves when blinking
• Light sensitivity
• Eye lid inflammation

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Blepharitis treatments often involve a regime revolving around treating the lid inflammation and clearing away and excess bacterial load on the eyelids.

This may include:

• Lid wipes and ointments
• Drops to manage the symptoms
• Professional lid cleaning in the form of Blephex
• Lid hygiene routines
• Hot compresses where meibomian glands may be blocked