Dry Eye Is a Common Complaint at Our Practice
The average American spends about 7 to 9 hours on a screen, which can make dry eye symptoms worse. Digital device use often decreases the rate at which you blink, causing your tears to evaporate and your oil glands to become blocked.
Dry eye disease can dramatically impact the quality and comfort of your life. Although over-the-counter treatments are available, they are often NOT effective and can even make the problem worse!
Dr. Kapoor uses diagnostic technology, including LipiScan Meibography (lid imaging), tear assessment, and blink analysis using the Oculus Keratograph and Firefly slit lamp imaging system. She uses the information from these tests to comprehensively evaluate your eyes and create a personalized treatment plan.
Contact us to schedule your appointment today and discover how we can help you manage dry eye disease.
Symptoms of Dry Eye
Dry eye symptoms generally occur in both eyes at the same time and can include:
- Stinging or burning
- Gritty or scratchy feeling
- Foreign body sensation
- Red or watery eyes
- Blurry vision
- Sensitivity to light
- Eye fatigue
- Stringy mucus in or around your eyes
- Discomfort when wearing contacts
If you experience any of these symptoms, book your appointment to explore dry eye treatments today.
Our Approach to Dry Eye Management
Diagnosing & Treating Dry Eye
We use our eyes all day, but we rarely think of them—unless they’re uncomfortable, and then they’re all we think about. Adults might turn to redness-relieving eye drops, while kids often rub their eyes. But neither strategy tackles the true cause of tired, scratchy eyes.
Dry eye is a chronic, common, and uncomfortable condition, impacting more than 16 million Americans. Not only is it irritating, but it can really put a damper on your daily life. Dry eye can decrease your quality of life and hinder productivity.
But relief is available! Our team can help diagnose your dry eye symptoms. If left untreated, dry eye can lead to long-term infections and eye damage down the road. Whenever your eyes are uncomfortable, it’s best to visit us and rule out more problematic conditions.
LipiScan Meibography
Dry eye can be frustrating and persistent and impact your quality of life. At Kapoor Eye Care, we understand your struggle. That’s why we offer LipiScan meibography, which helps us get to the root cause of your condition.
LipiScan is a painless imaging technology that provides a detailed view of your meibomian glands along your eyelids. These glands produce the oily layer of your tears, which is crucial for preventing evaporation and keeping your eyes comfortable.
Through LipiScan, Dr. Kapoor can assess the health of your glands, identifying blockages, shape changes, or other issues affecting their function. With this clear picture, Dr. Kapoor can create a personalized treatment plan tailored to your specific needs.
LipiScan complements our ability to diagnose and treat patients with suspected meibomian gland dysfunction.
Tear Assessment & Blink Analysis
A tear assessment goes beyond measuring tear production. We delve deeper, evaluating the quality and composition of your tear film. This vital layer protects and nourishes your eyes. This insight helps us identify potential issues like dry eye or tear instability, helping us create an effective treatment plan.
Blink analysis sheds light on your blinking patterns. By understanding how often and completely you blink, we can identify potential problems that might contribute to dry eyes, discomfort, or eye strain.
Slit Lamp Imaging
The Firefly digital slit lamp imaging system captures stunning high-definition images and videos of your eye’s intricate structures. These images allow Dr. Kapoor to examine your eyes in greater detail, leading to a more precise diagnosis and personalized treatment plan.
The Firefly’s user-friendly design also lets you see what Dr. Kapoor sees. This real-time visualization helps empower you to understand your eye health better and allows you to share images with your family doctor or consulting specialist effortlessly.
How Our Dry Eye Program Works
Our dry eye program works like therapy. We don’t simply prescribe a quick medication; we create an individualized solution for each patient. Before administering treatment, we investigate the root cause so we can provide the most effective and long-lasting results.
With so many effective dry eye treatments available, a comprehensive dry eye examination is crucial for determining the best course of action. For example, prescription drops may help relieve inflammatory tear deficiency, while mild cases of dry eye can benefit from non-prescription treatments, including heat masks, lid scrubs, gland debridement, artificial tears, or punctal plugs, among others.
Holistic treatments usually work better because they get your body working better. Every person is different, and Dr. Kapoor will work hard to find the best treatment for you.
Effective Dry Eye Treatments
After gathering the information during your examination, Dr. Kapoor will create a treatment plan to help you achieve longer-lasting relief. Your plan may include any one or a combination of approaches:
- Preservative-free artificial tears (PFAT) add moisture to the eyes.
- Overnight ointments prevent dryness while sleeping.
- Prescription drops (Restasis, Xiidra, Cequa, etc.) target inflammation and oil production.
- Eyelid hygiene removes bacteria and debris from the eyelids.
- Eyelid heat compression improves meibomian gland function.
- Punctal plug insertion blocks tear drainage to keep eyes moist.
- Dry eye supplements like omega-3 fatty acids boost tear quality.
- Blinking exercises stimulate tear production.
- BlephEx treatment removes plaque from meibomian glands and improves their function.
- Low-level light therapy (Marco Equinox) and meibomian gland therapy address oil deficiency.
- LipiFlow Thermal Pulsation System directly targets and unclogs blocked meibomian glands.
Marco Equinox Low-Level Light Therapy (LLLT)
Kapoor Eye Care offers Marco Equinox low-level light therapy (LLLT).
Developed by NASA, LLLT has proven effective at treating dry eye disease. LLLT uses specially designed LED lights to gently warm up the eyelids, helping release clogged meibomian glands and improve oil production.
LLLT offers:
- Comfortable and non-invasive procedure
- Short, 15-minute sessions
- Little to no recovery time
- Multipurpose use for adults and children
Lie back with the Equinox mask on and relax as the warm light clears your glands. LLLT may also help decrease the appearance of facial wrinkles, acne, and rosacea.
The Details of Dry Eye Syndrome
Dry eye occurs when your eyes aren’t producing enough lubrication to keep them moist and comfortable.
There are 2 main types of dry eye: tear deficiency and evaporative dry eye. The first occurs when the eyes simply don’t produce enough tears. The second occurs when the tears are of poor quality.
Tear Deficiency
Reasons for decreased tear production are varied and can include:
- Contact lens wear
- Normal aging
- Medications such as antihistamines or antidepressants
- Medical conditions such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or Sjögren’s syndrome
- Recent laser vision correction surgery
Poor Quality Tears
Good-quality tears depend on a balanced and effective tear film. The tear film is made up of 3 layers:
- A mucus layer to spread the tears over the eye’s surface
- A water layer to hydrate the eye
- An oil layer to keep the water from evaporating too quickly
If there’s an imbalance in the tear film, dry eye syndrome can result.
The tiny glands along the top and bottom edges of the eyelids, called the meibomian glands, are responsible for producing the oil layer of your tear film. Blockages in these glands can cause a reduction in the amount of oil produced, leading to dry eyes.
When we diagnose your dry eye syndrome, we’ll also look at the condition of your meibomian glands and recommend treatment options if they’re not functioning properly.
Severe Stages of MGD
LipiScan imaging can be easily repeated over time to monitor the glands for changes, making it easier to see the progression of the disease.
In addition to the LipiScan, we evaluate the quality and quantity of your tears, the function of your meibomian glands, and the health of the front surface of your eyes. We specifically check the function of your meibomian glands to see if they are producing a clear “olive-oil-like” liquid, if the liquid is cloudy, thicker, solid, or if there’s no oil secretion at all.
If the oil is too thick, it’s difficult for the eyelids to spread the tear film evenly over the surface of the eye. If it gets so thick that the oil blocks and backs up in the gland, the gland slowly but permanently becomes damaged and starts to die off.
Our body is not able to repair or regenerate the structure, and the gland becomes permanently nonfunctional. The result is irreversible and often leads to severe dry eye.
About Dr. Kapoor
Dr. Kapoor is committed to the care and non-surgical treatment of many conditions affecting the ocular surface. She is passionate about addressing dry eye disease and continually brings in new technologies for its treatment. She examines and treats patients with dry eye using eye drops, punctal plugs, amniotic membranes, and biological eye drops.
Dry eye treatments include iLux, MIBO Thermoflo, Lipiflow Thermal Pulsation, Marco LLLT, and intense pulsed light (IPL). The idea behind these treatments is to get your own body to make and secrete oils for your tears.
She also evaluates patients with blepharitis, styes, and allergic conjunctivitis. Dr. Kapoor is accepting new patients for evaluation and management of dry eye and other ocular surface diseases.
Helping You Find Relief from Dry Eyes
No matter the cause of your dry eye, we work hard to help you find relief. Our team at Kapoor Eye Care offers customized treatment options tailored to your unique needs.
Schedule your appointment today and start on the path to clear, comfortable vision!
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Built on a Foundation of Trust and Technology
The goal of our office is to provide comprehensive and compassionate eye care using the latest technology. We customize each eye examination based on age, health status and family history.
Our staff looks forward to helping you with all of your eye health needs. Give us a call today to schedule your next appointment or stop by our office to shop our in-trend and seasonal frames!
Our Address
- 930 E Mt Prospect Plaza
- Mt. Prospect, IL 60056
Contact Information
- Phone: 847-590-0007
- Text: 847-388-6698
- Email: [email protected]
Hours of Operation
- Monday: Closed
- Tuesday: 12:30 PM – 7:00 PM
- Wednesday: 12:30 PM – 7:00 PM
- Thursday: Closed
- Friday: 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM
- Saturday: 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM
- Sunday: Closed
Our Services
Dry Eye
Disease
Contact Lens
Exams
Myopia
Control
Eye Disease Diagnosis
& Management
Our Google Reviews
“The staff is incredibly nice and helpful. I’ve been going here for years, I’ve even tried other eye doctors but always end up going back here because the services here are better than any other I’ve received in other places. Dr. Kapoor is an amazing person and makes going to the eye doctors seem like a much less uncomfortable place to be.” -Michelle P
Our Blogs
Introducing the Firefly Digital Slit Lamp Imaging System
Eye CareWe are proud to announce we can now use the Firefly Digital Slit Lamp Imaging System to show you more about the health of your eyes.
As a patient, you can expect to learn a lot about your eyes with these detailed images! Using this device, we will give you a tour of your eyes through pictures and videos that can help you become well-informed about your eye health. […]
The Importance of Myopia Management for Your Child’s Eye Health
Eye CareIn an increasingly digital age, where screens and gadgets have become an integral part of daily life, it’s no surprise that myopia, commonly known as nearsightedness, is on the rise among children in the United States. Myopia is a common refractive error where distant objects appear blurry, often resulting in the need for prescription glasses […]
MYAH Myopia Screening
Eye CareDo you worry about your kids’ eyes? Do they spend many hours on screens? Bring your kids in for a MYAH Myopia Screening! Dr. B. Kapoor We are proud to announce new technology in our office called Topcon Myah Axial Length and Corneal Topography! We are committed to keeping our kids healthy so please ensure: […]
Introducing the Firefly Digital Slit Lamp Imaging System
We are proud to announce we can now use the Firefly Digital Slit Lamp Imaging System to show you more about the health of your eyes.
As a patient, you can expect to learn a lot about your eyes with these detailed images! Using this device, we will give you a tour of your eyes through pictures and videos that can help you become well-informed about your eye health. […]
The Importance of Myopia Management for Your Child’s Eye Health
In an increasingly digital age, where screens and gadgets have become an integral part of daily life, it’s no surprise that myopia, commonly known as nearsightedness, is on the rise among children in the United States. Myopia is a common refractive error where distant objects appear blurry, often resulting in the need for prescription glasses […]
MYAH Myopia Screening
Do you worry about your kids’ eyes? Do they spend many hours on screens? Bring your kids in for a MYAH Myopia Screening! Dr. B. Kapoor We are proud to announce new technology in our office called Topcon Myah Axial Length and Corneal Topography! We are committed to keeping our kids healthy so please ensure: […]
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Kapoor Eye Care
- 930 E Mt Prospect Plaza
- Mt. Prospect, IL 60056
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P: 847-590-0007
[email protected]
