Dry Eye Treatments

Meibomian Gland Expressions

I’ve made dry eye disease the primary focus of my ophthalmology practice ever since completing my cornea and ocular surface fellowship under the training of Dr. Richard Troutman,  the leading corneal expert in the world at that time. He taught me the benefits of expressing the meibomian glands, a treatment for infected eyes and eyelids commonplace prior to the advent of antibiotic drops. 

My meibomian gland treatment is patented by me and is proprietary only to my practice. My happiest and most loyal patients are the ones who have tried and wasted their money on the LipoFlo machine. Over the last 30 years I have researched and successfully performed nearly 250,000 meibomian gland procedures in my office. All at a fraction of the cost of the LipiFlo. My treatment process does more than alleviate dry eye symptoms. It actually stimulates the glands to function better. 

This treatment results in less pain, a much whiter eye, better vision, healthier corneal surface and no side effects, the natural meibomian gland secretion is the perfect dry eye medication. The pharmaceutical companies have nothing that compares to this holistic treatment.                                                                                          

Here’s how it works…

Evenly spaced along the margins of all four of our lids are 140 tiny pores or openings, the meibomian glands. These glandular openings are frequently occluded due to allergy, sun damage, blepharitis, eyelid droop, poor lid contact to eye surface, rosacea, psoriasis and seborrhea. This problem gets overlooked in the vast majority of eye examinations. Each meibomian gland secretes a viscous, oily secretion called meibum. Beyond its well known quality of stabilizing the tear film to make our eyes feel comfortable it also has both antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties. I have found it to be a natural barrier to ocular surface infection and was surprised to learn how potent an anti-inflammatory it is. Immediately following expressions most of my patients feel the instantaneous relief of dry eye irritation along with an immediate and dramatic decrease of redness.  Practically every patient gets an improvement in overall visual acuity because this gland secretion maintains a smoother and therefore clearer cornea (the clear window of the eye). 

Due to the microscopic size of each lid gland, expressions are performed under my office based surgical microscope. I have developed and patented precise instruments to enhance these lid manipulations. There is no cutting and positive results are immediate. My technique does not damage glandular function. In fact, over time, it actually improves and rehabilitates meibomian gland function.