Dr. Brill Provides Dry Eye Educational Seminar To 20 Kansas City Optometrists

Dry Eye Exposed:  Confessions of a Kansas Optometrist

Dr. Brill hosted a fun evening of 2 hours of continuing education for 20 optometrists at Brill Eye Center on November 1, 2016.  The evening began with Tesla test drives followed by a lecture covering the latest innovations in dry eye treatments and how to best manage patients who are suffering from this chronic condition.

Diagnosing Meibomian

Following the lecture, Dr. Brill and his team demonstrated how to properly diagnose Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD) using advanced methods of photography called meibography using LipiView 2 technology.  These photos provide concrete evidence if patients exhibit meibomian gland loss which is the cause of 86% of dry eye due to a lack of oil covering the ocular surface, not water.

Two optometrists with the most severe dry eye were treated for dry eye and MGD using Lipiflow Thermal Pulsation.  Dr. Brill strongly believes that getting to the root cause of dry eye is important. The two treatments demonstrated how chronic dry eye can be treated in just 12 minutes and can provide 1-3 years of lasting relief.  Many patients who have been treated with LipiFlow return to their regular regimen of wearing contact lenses and no longer think about their symptoms.  It has become a thing of the past.

Dr. Brill offered 5 simple recommendations to optometrists who wish to treat dry eye in their practices:

• Understand that dry eye is chronic and progressive and there is a protocol for treating it.
• Eye drops are not the only treatment option and only work for 14% of people.
• Dry eye must be managed and is similar to the dental model of flossing and brushing in between doctor visits.
• A lack of oil and also MGD is the cause of 86% of dry eye.
• If you do not have the proper tools to treat dry eye, be a referral hero and send to an optometrist who is skilled and knowledgeable at treating it.