Cass County can offer residents specialized care for dry eye disease, thanks to a newly created dry eye center in Edwardsburg. 

Southwest Vision Center recently opened a Dry Eye Center of Excellence at its Edwardsburg location. As part of the new dry eye clinic, Southwest Vision Center is now certified to prescribe and administer advanced treatments for dry eye disease by Bio-Tissue, the industry leader in regenerative tissue therapies and ocular hygiene products for lid margin and ocular surface diseases. The new dry eye center is the only Dry Eye Center of Excellence in southwest Michigan, the closest dry eye centers being in Grand Rapids and Mishawaka.

“We are pleased to become a Dry Eye Center of Excellence and to now offer our patients such an advanced treatment for dry eye disease,” said Dr. Jennifer Lambart, who co-owns Southwest Vision Center with her husband Deven Lambart.

The owners of Southwest Vision Center, and its four locations in Edwardsburg, Buchanan, Dowagiac and Three Rivers, said they have been wanting to open a dry eye clinic for a long time.

“Jennifer has been working for this a long time. She has been done the work and now it’s here,” Deven said.

Dry eye is prevalent among people as they age, with more than 25 million Americans over the age 50 estimated to suffer from dry eye disease, according to the National Eye Institute. Symptoms for dry eye disease include red and itchy eyes, blurred vision and sensitivity to light.

Due to the high number of those affected and her own struggles with dry eye, Jennifer was inspired to study dry eye and provide treatment to others.

“It’s a true disease of the eye and so many people don’t realize just how many people it affects,” Jennifer said. “It affects your life, your productivity and your comfort. After I suffered from dryness and saw how many other people were frustrated with it as well, I knew I wanted to do something about it.”

Jennifer went on to treat her own dry eye and went to many different conferences and workshops to learn more about dry eye disease and how to treat it, which lead her to eventually open the Dry Eye Center for Excellence.

One of the things that Southwest Vision Center is most excited to offer through the new dry eye center is Prokera, a biologic corneal bandage/medical device used by eye doctors around the world to treat dry eye disease and other ocular surface conditions.

“It’s amazing,” Deven said. “I didn’t know much about it until [Jennifer] started using it. Her first case, she was able 20/200 vision to 20/20. You know the large ‘e’ on the eye chart? This woman, for 17 years, could only see one line below that, even with glasses. But then after two treatments [with Prokera] she could see 20/20 again. It was integral to removing the damaged tissue.”

Prokera and the other treatments and machines offered by the new Dry Eye Center of Excellence are designed to help patients find the best treatment for their dry eye, which can be difficult for other non-specialized doctors to treat effectively and quickly.

“Instead of dancing around the issue and taking two regular optometrist visits to find the solution, we can do it quicker now,” Jennifer said. “That way you can get better quicker and see the world better quicker.”