News and Insights

Serum eye drops for severe dry eye: does stronger work better?

A Belgian crossover trial compared 20% and 100% autologous serum eye drops with preservative-free artificial tears in 46 people with severe dry eye. Here is what the abstract shows, and what it leaves unanswered.

Demodex that reaches the cornea: early, small-study evidence for adding IPL

A 2026 retrospective study of 45 patients with Demodex-related corneal inflammation found better corneal and tear film signs in the 10 who had IPL added. It was small, single-centre, non-randomised and unmasked, so it is a reason for trials, not a conclusion.

Dry eye after laser eye surgery: does IPL help? Symptoms improved, signs unproven

A 2026 meta-analysis of four small studies found IPL was associated with better symptom scores in dry eye after LASIK, but measured signs did not clearly change and there was no comparison group.

Tea tree oil or an antibiotic drop? What a four-week trial found for blocked oil glands

A 50-person randomised trial compared tea tree oil gel with azithromycin drops for meibomian gland dysfunction over four weeks. Tea tree oil did better on most measures, but the trial was small, short and single-masked.

IPL and the bacteria on your eyelids: a small trial in contact-lens wearers

A double-masked sham-controlled trial in 18 symptomatic contact lens wearers found IPL reduced eyelid bacterial counts at day 42, with partial rebound by day 90 and no link between bacteria and comfort. We explain what it can and can't tell you.

Retinol, tretinoin and your oil glands: the skincare question we ask at the Dry Eye Evaluation

A 2026 systematic review of 89 studies found topical retinoids applied near the eyes were associated with more pain, dryness and burning, mostly with prescription strengths. What it can and cannot tell you about your oil glands.

Lid wipes, hypochlorous spray or just saline? What a randomised trial says about lid hygiene

A 2026 randomised trial compared eyelid wipes, hypochlorous acid and saline for blepharitis. Wipes eased symptoms more than saline at four weeks; hypochlorous acid sat in between. We explain what it can and can't tell you.

Cyclosporine drops for dry eye: what Cochrane's 58-trial review says, and who they're for

A plain-English guide to the 2026 Cochrane review of cyclosporine eye drops for dry eye disease: modest, low-to-moderate certainty benefits, higher discontinuation, and who the drops may suit.

Dry Eye

Rexon-Eye for dry eye: the electrotherapy option for stubborn, multifactorial dry eye

Rexon-Eye is a painless electrotherapy that works differently from heat-based devices. Here is what a 40-patient double-masked randomised trial found against placebo, what two uncontrolled mixed-type studies measured, and where tear production did not change.

Dry Eye

Tixel for dry eye: the thermomechanical treatment for stubborn meibomian gland dysfunction

Tixel is a newer thermomechanical treatment for meibomian gland dysfunction. Full-text review of a 40-patient uncontrolled pilot and a 21-person responders-only extension: the actual numbers, the settings, who paid, and why the studies cannot tell you your own odds.

Dry Eye

LipiFlow for dry eye: what a single treatment can do for blocked oil glands

LipiFlow warms and clears blocked oil glands from inside the lid in one 12-minute session. Here is what a meta-analysis of ten randomised trials and a 200-person 12-month trial actually measured, with the numbers, side effects and the limits of the evidence.

Dry Eye

IPL for dry eye: what the evidence shows about treating the cause

Most dry eye is an oil-gland problem, and IPL targets that cause. Here is what two sham-controlled randomised trials found, in numbers: better tear stability and gland function, a smaller effect on symptoms, and what the short follow-up can't tell you.

Dry Eye

What a Dry Eye Treatment Plan Actually Looks Like

Dry eye is a chronic condition managed in stages, not a problem solved in a single appointment. How a specialist plan is structured — foundation care, in-office procedures, the lubricant ladder, prescribed medicines and nutrition — why each step should name the problem it is fixing, and what happens at review.

Dry Eye

Lid Debridement, Gland Expression and Lacrimal Lavage: The In-Office Procedures Behind Dry Eye Care

Device treatments get the attention, but a great deal of dry eye care is done by hand. What lid debridement, meibomian gland expression, lacrimal lavage and Blephasteam moist-heat goggle therapy actually involve, what each one is for, and how they sequence alongside the technology.

Dry Eye

Prescribed Medicines for Dry Eye: Steroids, Doxycycline and Azithromycin

Lubricants and lid hygiene are the foundation of dry eye care, but inflammation sometimes needs treating directly. What topical corticosteroids, oral doxycycline, oral azithromycin and anti-allergy medicines actually do, the doses used in New Zealand practice, why the low-dose antibiotics are not really being used as antibiotics, and the monitoring each one requires.

Dry Eye

Fluorescein, Lissamine Green and Tear Osmolarity: The Chemistry of a Dry Eye Diagnosis

Three of the most informative dry eye tests fit in a drop: fluorescein maps corneal damage and times tear break-up, lissamine green reveals the conjunctival and lid-wiper damage fluorescein misses, and ScoutPro osmolarity measures the saltiness of your tears — one of the most objective numbers in dry eye. What each test shows and what the results mean.

Dry Eye

TearCheck and Meibography: Imaging Your Tear Film and Meibomian Glands

Modern dry eye clinics measure before they treat. What the TearCheck platform actually examines — tear film stability, tear volume, redness, blinking and inflammation risk — and why infrared meibography, which photographs the oil glands inside your lids, is the single most consequential image in the workup.

Dry Eye

How We Diagnose Dry Eye: Inside a Specialist Workup

Dry eye treatment is only as good as the diagnosis behind it. A walk through the full specialist workup — questionnaires, TearCheck tear-film analysis, ScoutPro osmolarity, vital-dye staining and meibomian gland imaging — and how each result steers the treatment plan.

Dry Eye

Demodex Blepharitis: The Lash Mites Behind Itchy Lids — and Where BlephEx Fits In

Demodex mites live in the lash follicles of most adults — and in overgrowth they cause a distinctive, stubborn blepharitis marked by collarettes at the lash roots. What the mites are, how we diagnose them at the slit lamp, why any treatment course must respect the mite's life cycle, and the honest role of BlephEx debridement alongside terpinen-4-ol and newer therapies.

Dry Eye

Which Dry Eye Treatment Is Right for You? LipiFlow, IPL, Tixel, Rexon-Eye and BlephEx Compared

The five in-clinic dry eye treatments compared side by side — what each actually does, which type of dry eye it suits, what a course looks like, and how a specialist decides. Written so you can walk into your assessment knowing what the options mean.

Dry Eye

What Is Meibomian Gland Dysfunction? The Condition Behind Most Dry Eye

Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) underlies most dry eye — and it is the condition every treatment we offer is aimed at. What the meibomian glands do, why they block, why home remedies often fall short, and how each in-clinic treatment addresses a different part of the problem.

Dry Eye

BlephEx Microblepharoexfoliation for Blepharitis and Lid-Margin Disease

A plain-language, research-based overview of BlephEx microblepharoexfoliation — the in-office eyelid deep-cleaning procedure — how it removes lid-margin biofilm, where it fits in blepharitis and dry eye care, and what the trials actually show.

Dry Eye

Rexon-Eye Quantum Molecular Resonance Electrotherapy for Dry Eye Disease

A research-based overview of Rexon-Eye quantum molecular resonance (QMR) electrotherapy for dry eye disease — its proposed mechanism and the prospective clinical evidence across mixed-type dry eye.

Dry Eye

Intense Pulsed Light (Eswin) for Meibomian Gland Dysfunction and Evaporative Dry Eye

A research-based overview of intense pulsed light (IPL) for meibomian gland dysfunction and evaporative dry eye, delivered on the Eswin platform — its mechanisms and the randomised-trial and meta-analytic evidence.

Dry Eye

Tixel 2 Thermomechanical Treatment for Meibomian Gland Dysfunction and Dry Eye

A research-based overview of the Tixel 2 thermomechanical device for meibomian gland dysfunction and evaporative dry eye — its mechanism and the prospective clinical evidence, including the Safir pilot trial.

Dry Eye

LipiFlow Vectored Thermal Pulsation for Meibomian Gland Dysfunction

A research-based overview of LipiFlow vectored thermal pulsation for meibomian gland dysfunction — how it works, and what the randomised trials, meta-analyses and the American Academy of Ophthalmology assessment actually show.

Dry Eye

The Dry Eye Drop Formulary: Chemical Composition and DEWS III-Based Use

A clinical formulary of the dry eye drops, gels and ointments available across Dry Eye Specialist Group member practices — each mapped by its chemical composition to its intended use under the TFOS DEWS III (2025) management framework.