It is a bit ironic that “Dry Eye Disease” can often be treated without having to resort to eye drops or damp compresses. In 85-90% of cases, dry eye symptoms can actually be treated using a dry warm compress or pad that provides sufficient temperature to loosen the oils that provide a critical component of tears.
How Dry Heat Treats Dry Eye Disease
As you do your research on dry eye disease treatments, you will find that many warm compresses talk about “moist” heat, as if adding moisture on the eyelid surface will have any impact on the tear film under the lids. Of course, it will not! This is a marketing ploy that plays on the fact that the disease is called “dry eye.” The claim is “anything that is ‘moist’ must be good!”
However, a moist compress is actually counterproductive in cases where sufficient heat is needed to melt the clogs in the Meibomian oil gland ducts. Once there is moisture on the surface of the eyelid skin, there will be evaporative cooling. {This is why we feel cold when getting out of a pool, even on a hot day.) This natural cooling is the exact opposite of what you need to loosen the oils. To maintain the desired heat for the required 10+ minutes, we need to deliver dry warmth to the eyelid surface without any moisture! Therefore, EyeGiene deploys a fixed amount of thermal energy in a “dry” manner to treat the underlying Meibomian Gland dysfunction.
This is the cause of Dry Eye Disease in the large majority of cases, and in fact most of the time there is not a lack of tears, but a lack of oil forming a protective barrier on the tear surface, thereby allowing the tears to remain in place and prevent tear film evaporation.
Warm compresses loosen the scales and debris that can be found around the eye lashes, and also help to liquefy meibum, so it can flow out of the meibomian glands and onto the surface of the tear film.
One of the Best Home Treatments for Dry Eye Disease are Warm Compresses Like EyeGiene
Board-certified ophthalmologist Barry J. Linder, MD, MS, created the EyeGiene® Insta-Warmth™ System to make it simple and convenient to apply the precise application of dry heat for the required amount of time. This is the key differentiator that the EyeGiene® Insta-Warmth compresses provide. And the application happens automatically when you place the Warming Wafers into the reusable mask and place the mask over your eyes. No treatment is simpler to apply yet highly effective at restoring the proper balance of ingredients for your tears to properly protect your eyes.
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