Your Treatment Day
Most sessions take 30 minutes or less. No downtime — you can resume normal activities immediately.
What to Expect
Your session is designed to be efficient, comfortable, and matched to your diagnostic results. Here’s what happens before, during, and after.
Before the Treatment
To ensure your treatment goes smoothly, please follow these simple steps beforehand.
One Week Prior
Avoid self-tanners, tanning beds, and direct sunbathing.
Treatment Day
Remove contact lenses and eye makeup before your appointment. Both can be reapplied afterward, though we recommend waiting 24 hours for makeup.
During the Treatment
You’ll be comfortably reclined throughout your treatment. Depending on your diagnosis, your session may include some or all of the following:
1. Infrared Light Exposure
Your eyes are covered with a protective shield while infrared light warms the meibomian glands in your eyelids. In cases of MGD, gland secretions thicken and solidify. The heat liquefies them so they can be more easily expressed in the next step.
2. Eyelid Cleansing Procedure
Using a specialized instrument, your provider cleans and exfoliates the lid margins — removing debris, bacteria, and any biofilm blocking the gland openings. This restores the path for oils to reach your tear film.
3. Meibomian Gland Expression
With the glands warmed and the lid margins cleared, gentle pressure from specialized forceps releases trapped oily secretions. These oils return to the tear film and immediately begin improving tear quality.
Additional Treatments (If Indicated)
Depending on your diagnostic results, one or more of the following may be added.
Tixel
Ten brief heat impulses are delivered in two rows — one along the upper and one along the lower eyelid margin. The impulses apply controlled heat and stimulate repair mechanisms in the meibomian glands, promoting oil production and secretion. The procedure takes approximately two to five minutes. If needed, a numbing cream can be applied beforehand for added comfort.
Tixel does not require any special eye protection because there is no light emission. The energy levels around the eye are very low, so there is no risk to the eye itself.
Studies showed a significant improvement in important tear film parameters.
Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) Treatment
If the diagnostic examination results show vascular changes in the eyelids, further treatment with intensive pulsed light (IPL) may be indicated.
A protective hydrogel is applied to the eyelids and eye protection is provided. Controlled light pulses are then delivered along the eyelid margins and surrounding skin. You may feel a brief warmth, which fades quickly after the session.
Low-Level Light Therapy (LLLT)
Low-level light treatment (LLLT) is a non-invasive therapy that uses specialized LEDs to reduce inflammation and stimulate gland activity.
The treatment is non-invasive and completely painless.
After the Treatment
You should notice improvement within a few hours as normal gland function begins to restore. Contact lenses can be worn immediately. We recommend waiting 24 hours before reapplying eye makeup. Some patients with sensitive skin may experience mild, short-term irritation.
Start your Smart Dry Eyes personalized treatment
Take the first step toward clearer, more comfortable vision by beginning a guided screening within the Smart Dry Eyes system and entering a coordinated diagnostic and treatment pathway.