IPL Treatment for Dry Eyes
What is IPL Treatment?
Dry eye is usually blamed on a lack of tears. In most people the real problem is different: the thin layer of oil that should sit on top of the tears has failed. That oil comes from small glands in the eyelids, and when those glands block or thicken, tears evaporate within seconds — which is why the eye feels dry even when it is watering. Warm compresses, lid wipes and lubricating drops soothe this, but they do not clear the glands, so the relief fades and the problem returns.
Intense Pulsed Light, or IPL, treats that cause. Filtered pulses of light applied to the skin over the cheekbones and just below the lower lids settle the inflammation that keeps the glands blocked and soften the thickened oil inside them.
YOUR VISION, OUR MISSION
For over thirty-five years, families across Mumbai have trusted us to look after their eyes with honest assessments, and treatment recommended only when it is genuinely needed.
When to consider IPL Treatment.
IPL is worth considering when the discomfort has stopped being occasional and drops have stopped being enough. If your eyes burn by evening, if screens become difficult after an hour, if contact lenses have quietly become unwearable, or if you are reaching for lubricating drops several times a day, the tear film is no longer managing on its own.
Lubricating drops replace what has evaporated. They give real relief, and they are the right place to start — but they refill a leaking tank rather than sealing it, which is why the effect lasts an hour or two and the bottle empties faster every month. IPL is directed at the glands themselves.
Before Treatment: Confirming the Diagnosis
IPL is not offered on symptoms alone. It treats one specific cause of dry eye — meibomian gland dysfunction — and we confirm that cause before recommending it. An assessment before treatment includes:
Tear Film Analysis​
Tear film break-up time — how many seconds your tear film holds before it breaks. In a healthy eye this is comfortably longer than the gap between blinks.
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Surface staining — a check for damage to the cornea and conjunctiva caused by the exposure.
Lid margin examination — the glands are examined under the microscope and gently expressed to see what comes out, and how easily.
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Meibography — an infrared scan that photographs the oil glands inside your eyelid.
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The meibography scan appears on the screen in front of you. Healthy glands look like a row of neat parallel combs; glands under strain look shortened, twisted or missing. It shows what symptoms cannot — how much gland tissue is still there — and lost gland tissue does not return. That is what determines whether IPL is likely to help you, and how soon it should begin.
How IPL Treatment Works: What to Expect
Treatment follows a fixed schedule of four sessions over about seven weeks. Each visit takes roughly twenty minutes.
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During a Session
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Your skin type is recorded and the settings matched to it before the first pulse is applied.
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Protective shields are placed over your eyes and a cooling gel over the treatment area.
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Pulses of filtered light are applied along the cheekbones and below the lower lids. Most people describe a brief warmth or a light flick against the skin.
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The shields are removed and your optometrist expresses the meibomian glands along the lid margin, clearing the softened oil.
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The Four-Session Course
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Day 1 — First session. Baseline scores and photographs are recorded before treatment begins, so progress can be measured rather than guessed at.
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Day 14 — Second session. Many patients report the first change around this point. It is a sign the course is working, not that it is finished.
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Day 28 — Third session. Gland function is reassessed and the settings adjusted to your response.
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Day 49 — Fourth session. Final treatment, repeat measurements, and a plan for maintaining the result.
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Because relief often arrives around the second session, some patients are tempted to stop there. We would ask you not to. The evidence for this treatment rests on the complete four-session course, and results in those who stop early are meaningfully poorer. All four dates are booked before you leave your first appointment.
Akshar Eye Clinic
1st Floor, Radha Vishweshwar Apt, Narsing Lane, opp. NL High School, Malad West, Mumbai - 400064
Call: +91 84240 80406
Email: info@akshareyeclinic.com
