Autologous Tears: what is it?
When it comes to the eyes, the best types of drops are your own tears, but immediately behind your own tears are autologous tears, which are made for a patient in the form of eye drops. They look similar to eye drops, but they have one key difference: they are made with plasma from your own body.
The word “autologous” basically means that they come from you; they are made from your own plasma extracted from your blood and mixed with saline. Autologous drops are used for patients that have dry ears or one of several diseases affecting the eye and optical nerve area. They are also extremely useful for patients following eye surgery.
What is the process like?
To make autologous tears, blood will first be drawn from the patient. The blood is then spun in a centrifuge in order to extract plasma from it. The plasma is then mixed with a saline solution. The result? An eye drop similar to your own tears in that it contains vitamin A, epidermal growth properties, and nerve maintenance properties. The process typically results in anywhere from eight to twelve vials of drops- and any unused vials can be frozen for later use. Freezing the drops helps to preserve all of the natural properties and effectively keeps harmful bacteria out.
The properties of autologous tears benefit the health of your eyes in several ways. The epidermal growth properties of the plasma in autologous drops are actually used to help heal wounds on the skin and the nerve maintenance properties help neurons to grow and survive. The growth and survival of these neurons help prevent cell death and consequently, vision loss. Vitamin A typically aids in growth, maintaining the immune system, and promoting good vision. Normal over the counter eye drops may boast one or two of these benefits, but none of them come from your own body and contain the essential nutrients that your body needs.
If you live in Broward County think that you can benefit from autologous tears, it’s time to schedule a consultation with leading ophthalmologist Dr. Shareen Greenbaum. Hollywood Eye Institute is the ONLY place to get autologous tears in Broward County, so if you suffer from dry eyes, diseases that affect your eyes or are having eye surgery performed, it’s important that you understand how autologous tears can help you.