HOUSTON – Are you one of the millions of Americans suffering from chronic dry eyes? The itchy, painful condition can cause light sensitivity and blurred vision. Now, a new treatment can help.
Philadelphia-based Dr. Mina Massaro-Giordano uses Intense Pulse Light Therapy, or IPL, on certain patients to treat this common eye problem.
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"A specific type of patient, where the oils clog up in the eyelid. That's the reason that they get dry, because they don't have enough oil to coat the surface of their eyeball and the tears evaporate off too quickly," said Massaro-Giordano.
Only people with fair skin can get IPL because the light gets absorbed by pigment and could burn or cause light spots in patients with darker skin. When doctors apply the IPL, it is applied across the mid-face and lower eyelids, erasing abnormal blood vessels that cause inflammation of the oil glands in the eyelids. The process heats up the eyelids.
The FDA has approved IPL for use on various skin conditions.
As for the cost, it sets a patient back several hundred dollars per treatment.