Patients suffering from Sjögren's syndrome may find relief of their symptoms by undergoing intense pulsed light therapy.
A study recently published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine found that just three IPL (Intense Pulse Light) sessions could greatly improve the dry eye symptoms of Sjögren's syndrome. Current therapies include topical corticosteroids to reduce inflammation and the use of artificial lubricants.
Sjögren's patients may also have dysfunction of the meibomian glands, which produce meibum, an oil that prevents evaporation of tears on the eyes' surface.
The study involved 27 adults with Sjögren's and combined using the manual expression of the meibomian gland along with three rounds of IPL, three weeks apart. Patients were assessed at baseline, 9, 12 and 15 weeks. A control group of 28 Sjögren's patients did not receive any treatment and were assessed on the same timeline.
While both groups showed improvement on several eye health tests including corneal fluorescence staining, ocular surface disease index scores and non-invasive tear breakup time, patients who received the IPL treatment showed the greatest improvement.
Researchers believe the IPL treatments reduced the ocular surface inflammation and improved meibomian gland function. Researchers felt that IPL can be a beneficial treatment for Sjögren's patients.
VisiVite offers Dry Eye Relief TG-1000 and Quench to help relieve dry eye symptoms.
