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The team at Lifetime Optometric in Fresno — the practice of Dr. Margie Recalde, optometrist and dry eye specialist — is seen in this photo from the Lifetime Optometric Facebook page.

published on May 31, 2022 - 8:55 AM
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Lifetime Optometric in Fresno says it is on the cutting edge of dry-eye treatments with a new Food and Drug Administration-approved device.

OptiLight by Lumenis is a light-based treatment for patients with chronic dry eye. Dry eye typically used to be treated with long term medication, but now there are procedures to curb the side effects. OptiLight is the only machine that has been FDA approved for dry eyes. 

The treatment has helped patients specifically if they have meibomian gland disease, which affects the oil-producing glands that give moisture to the eyes. It has also proven effective for patients with ocular rosacea, which shows up as redness, burning and itchiness.

Since it’s light-based, it’s a non-invasive treatment performed below the eyes that addresses inflammation and meibomian gland functionality. 

This treatment is the first and only intense pulsed light device approved by the FDA to treat dry eye. The process takes about 15 minutes and is gentle enough to allow patients back to their daily activities right after treatment.

“This takes treating dry eye to a whole new level,” said Dr. Margie Recalde, optometrist, dry eye specialist and owner of Lifetime Optometric. “Dry eye is so prevalent here in the valley, it’s wonderful to have a treatment option providing such great outcomes.”

Dry eye is associated with age, medication side effects and long term computer use, but is also more prevalent in the Central Valley because of extreme dry heat.

“Being in Fresno especially with our bad air pollution and the smoke, it just compounds it so much more,” Recalde said.

Patients go through four sessions for a full round of treatment, then can get maintenance treatments depending on symptoms that flare up. But even the most severe cases can go months without needing another treatment.

OptiLight technology has been at Lifetime Optometric for about two months now and has already produced successful results, according to a news release. The treatment was approved in California in January of this year.

“In other states, they’ve been able to do it for years, but just recently the California Board of Optometry expanded our scope to do intense pulse light,” Recalde said.


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