An inaugural Dry Eye Resource Guide has been launched by Optometry Australia (OA), offering clinicians detailed information about products available to treat dry eye, ranging from diagnostic equipment to ocular lubricants, lid hygiene and in-office intense pulsed light therapy.
The Guide is categorised to follow steps one to four, as set out in the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society (TFOS) DEWS II Report and will be updated every two years to include new products for in-office treatments.
Sam Bonwick, professional education manager at OA said the Guide is an easy reference tool at a time when the number of dry eye products available to clinicians seems to have risen exponentially. It also includes expert commentaries to assist clinicians.
“With a proportion of patients with dry eye reporting episodic or persistent severe ocular pain, Dr Cecilia Chao and Dr Fiona Stapleton’s feature article provides an overview of the clinical work-up and management options for ocular pain associated with dry eye,” Mr Bonwick explained. “Also in this issue, given the high number of people with evaporative dry eye, Anna Delmadoros outlines both diagnostic and therapeutic meibomian gland expression techniques.”
Optometrist Leigh Plowman, who worked with OA for three months to compile the Guide, said the handy resource will be helpful for all clinicians, whether they are starting out in dry eye disease or working at an advanced level.
Mr Plowman said he is excited to have been part of the editorial team compiling the Guide.
“The Guide puts all the tools an optometrist needs for dry eye disease management at their fingertips, including some new products they may not have heard of before that will improve their options for patient care and patient outcomes.”
Within the Guide, there is information on new devices, like Beyond 700’s iTear 100 – a promising neurostimulation device developed by Prof Tom Millar at Western Sydney University (WSU), and Zocular, an okra-based cleanser used in-office to clean and remove residue from the eye lids.
The Dry Eye Guide will be available, free of charge in digital form, to OA members. It will also be distributed in print to members by post.
