What is TearCare – And How Does It Feel?

TearCare is an in-office treatment for people who suffer from dry eyes. It uses electrothermal devices to warm your eyelids and unblock clogs associated with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). The process is “blink-assisted,” in that the devices conform to your eyelids so you can blink during treatment, which takes advantage of your eye’s natural system of expressing meibum (oils that help keep your eyes moist) while blinking.

If the irritating symptoms of dry eye syndrome are getting in the way of your daily life, our eye doctors in Lewis Center, Westerville, Johnstown, and Northeast Columbus, Ohio, can help! Book an eye exam to learn more about TearCare and how it can help restore comfort and clarity to your vision.

Who is a candidate for TearCare?

One of the most common eye conditions we diagnose in our eye care center is dry eye syndrome. This problem has been estimated to affect up to 40 million people in the United States. While dry eye has a variety of causes, MGD is one of the leading culprits. That’s because when your meibomian glands are blocked, your tears have less of the fatty lipids that help slow down the evaporation of your tear film – so your eyes dry out more quickly, despite blinking.

We’ll perform a specialized eye exam to diagnose the cause of your dry eye. If MGD is to blame, then TearCare can be the ideal solution.

How does TearCare work?

TearCare treats MGD by clearing the obstruction of the meibomian glands. By using therapeutic levels of heat, hardened oil deposits are melted – allowing them to flow out. Immediately after the thermal cycle, our eye doctor will manually help to express your meibomian glands to make sure all residual clogs are removed. Throughout the whole session, your natural blinking also helps to clear any blockages. The TearCare treatment can offer lasting relief from painful dry eye symptoms.

What do patients say about TearCare?

We’ve treated many long-time sufferers of dry eye with TearCare in our eye care centers in Lewis Center, Westerville, Johnstown, and Northeast Columbus, Ohio. Patients report that the warming part of the process is relaxing and they were happily surprised by how the meibomian gland expression was finished so rapidly – taking only a few minutes. The temperature of the TearCare thermal application was comfortable.

Typically, patients return about every 4-6 weeks for a repeat session with TearCare, and just about everyone finds remarkable improvement in their dry eye symptoms. When our eye doctor performs an eye exam to evaluate the results, we almost always detect an improvement in the tear film, linked to better eye health.

Is TearCare for me?

Only an eye exam and consultation with our eye doctor can answer that question! We invite you to book an appointment at one of our eye care centers near you. In the meantime, read more about TearCare as an effective dry eye treatment.

At Professional VisionCare, we put your family’s needs first. Talk to us about how we can help you maintain healthy vision. Call us today: 614-898-9989 or book an appointment online to see one of our Lewis Center eye doctors.