By Jacqui Mayhew 

Contact lenses for dry eyes  worn only overnight while sleeping may offer the best approach to short-sighted sufferers who wear daytime contact lenses and presently rely on a wide range of treatments such as eye drops, gels, topical medications and even surgery. These new overnight corrective lenses gently reshape the eye while sleeping and provide clear natural daytime vision when removed next morning. Now a new dry eyes treatment approach being strongly promoted in the US is Intense Pulsed Laser (IPL) which was originally used by dermatologists for the treatment of skin discolouration, hair removal, acne rosacea, and other skin ailments. This procedure has been pioneered by Dr. Rolando Toyos who observed that patients previously treated for their skin ailments with IPL also observed that their eyes felt better and he believes it could make traditional treatment interventions redundant.

IPL works like a very good warm compress for the eyes and the procedure is typically done in three to four session within a span of four months for an optimised result. The blood vessels that surround the eyes absorb the heat that is produced by the laser which in turn heats up the neighbouring areas around those blood vessels and consequently secretions that have blocked the meibomian glands are dissolved. Moreover, the blood vessels around the eye are sealed, inhibiting inflammatory cells that cause inflammation from going to that area. The meibomian glands are then unclogged and restored to their function of giving the eyes a serviceable tear film. However, the use of lasers in eye treatments is still a potential area of concern for many patients which is why the special overnight contact lenses for dry eyes  may represent to them a more attractive alternative approach.

Dry eyes syndrome affects millions of people with symptoms such as discomfort, impairment of vision, sun or light sensitivity to the eyes and extreme itchiness. Many factors give rise to this major eye health problem such as age-related hormonal changes and medications to treat high blood pressure, depression and allergies. Equally, air pollution, excessive daytime contact lens wear and too much screen viewing (which reduces natural blink rates by up to five times) can also be causal factors. Without treatment, dry eyes can lead to corneal complication such as ulcerations, scarring, perforations and infection which may result in blindness. In particular, daytime contact lens wearers who work in air-conditioned offices and spend significant time working on computers are especially at risk which is why overnight contact lenses for dry eyes  can offer a better way of correcting their short-sight and mitigating their dry eye problem.

Check if you are suitable for overnight ortho-k corrective contact lenses  for dry eyes.