Your tears are complex in nature and crucial to eye health. Unfortunately, patients with severe dry eye may not produce enough tears to remain comfortable. Supplementing natural tear production with artificial tears or lubricants is often inadequate. Underlying medical issues can cause or worsen dry eye, including diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and thyroid disease. Furthermore, some medications may also diminish tear production. Relief for patients with dry eye and prevention of long-term damage to the ocular surface resulting from a lack of tear production is very important to us. Autologous serum eye drops may be a solution for you!
What are Autologous Serum Eye Drops? Autologous means that the donor and the recipient are the same person. The eye drops in this case are made from your own blood. Red blood cells and clotting factors are removed, leaving behind blood serum. This is diluted with a sterile, preservative-free solution to produce a tear substitute that is unique to the patient, and contains many important growth factors and nutrients normally found in healthy tears. Since blood and tears have an almost identical salinity and pH, there is no issue of burning or stinging upon instillation. Because they are non-preserved, the drops are stored in the freezer until you need them.
Contact our compounding pharmacist at 334-793-1316 or by email for more information regarding how to get stared with Autologous serum eye drops.
