Moisture aid during sleep for the treatment of dry eye: wet gauze eye mask.
While various techniques have been proposed for the treatment of dry eye, there have been no studies published evaluating the efficacy of the following wet gauze eye mask (WGEM) treatment of dry eye. One or two gauze mask(s) (9 x 12 cm) wetted with tap water and wrung were placed over both eyes during sleep. The treatment was performed on 30 patients with dry eye. Of these, 22 performed the treatment actively. In 14 (63.6%) out of the 22 patients, dry-eye symptoms were eliminated by the WGEM all day or until the evening. Of these 14, 7 were freed from eye drop treatment by the WGEM procedure. The WGEM treatment is safe, effective, simple and economical, and can be performed by the patients themselves. Moisture aid by the WGEM and/or a humidifier should be performed before resorting to punctal-plug insertion which may induce canalicular obstruction.
Kurihashi Eye Clinic, Hamamatsu, Japan.
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Kurihashi
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001458:Bandages; D015352:Dry Eye Syndromes / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006813:Humidity; D008297:Male; D008397:Masks; D008875:Middle Aged; D012890:Sleep