Dry eye clinic · for Bradford and Keighley, at Heckmondwike
Dry eye clinic for Bradford and Keighley
Half an hour from Bradford, forty minutes from Keighley: the oil glands in your eyelids photographed, explained, and cleared if they have blocked. It is why the drops from the hospital never held, and it is treatable.
Does this sound like your eyes?
Three of these, and it is worth the drive down the M606. We can show you why.
- “BRI said dry eye, drops, come back if it gets worse. It got worse.”
- “Up on the tops above Keighley the wind has my eyes running in seconds.”
- “The screen at work is fine until lunch, then it is a smear.”
- “The chemist’s drops last ten minutes and cost a fortune over a year.”
- “I stopped wearing lenses and never told anyone why.”
- “Burning at night, glued shut by morning, every day.”
- “Warm compress, lid wipe, repeat, for eighteen months. No change.”
- “I was told at fifty-eight it is just age. My sister was told the same at forty.”
Each of those has a cause you can see on a screen. Twenty-five minutes from Bradford, forty from Keighley, we photograph it, show you, and put the assessment and the first treatment into one visit because you are travelling.
“So much patience, care and help during the time I was having the dry eye treatment programme. It was the best thing I decided to have, in between and after my cataract surgery.”
What is actually happening
Streaming on the moors and gritty at the desk: the same blocked glands, and a bottle cannot reach them.
The short version. The full explanation is on our main dry eye page.
- Most dry eye is evaporation. The tears are there; the oil that should keep them on the eye is not.
- The oil is made inside your lids by a row of glands you have never seen, and every blink is supposed to release a little.
- Block those glands and the eye dries between blinks, stings, blurs, and then runs, which is why watery eyes and dry eyes are so often the same thing.
- No bottle reaches the gland. That is why the chemist has not fixed it and why clearing the glands does.
Types of dry eye
The three types of dry eye, and what we do for each
Most people are told “you’ve got dry eyes” and handed drops. But there are three different causes, and each needs something different. Most people have a mix.
Blocked oil glands: meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD)
About 8 in 10 people with dry eye have this. Along the edge of each eyelid are about 30 tiny glands that put a thin layer of oil on your tears. When they block, your tears dry up in seconds, however much water your eyes make. It feels gritty, burning and tired, often worse on screens or by evening. Drops help for an hour, because they don’t unblock the glands.
What we do: photograph your glands so you can see them, warm and clear them in clinic, clean the lid edge, and use IPL or light therapy where it helps (IPL at our Cheadle and Middleton clinics). Then we give you a simple routine for home.
Not enough tears
Your eyes don’t make enough of the watery part of tears. This is more common with age, some medicines, the menopause, and conditions like Sjögren’s.
What we do: measure your tear level, choose the right drops for you, and use tiny plugs to keep your own tears in where they help. We’ll write to your GP if something needs checking.
Inflamed eyelids: blepharitis, often with tiny mites called Demodex
Crusty, itchy, red lid edges, often worse in the morning.
What we do: deep-clean the lid edge in clinic, treat the mites, and show you how to keep the lids clean at home.
Not sure which one you have? That’s what the assessment is for. We look at your glands, tears and lids, and tell you which type, or which mix.
Three ways to start
Three ways to start, from Bradford and Keighley
It is a journey, so nearly everyone from Bradford, Keighley and Halifax books the full assessment and has everything done in one visit. Tell us you are travelling and we build the appointment around it.
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You know the treatment you wantBook it onlineEyeClean £480 · EyeRelief £900 · EyeRelief Max £1,495. We check your eyes at the first visit before anything starts.
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You want to know what is wrong firstDry Eye Assessment, £145 · 30 minEvery essential test, and a plan you take home
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You have questionsA call-back from your optometristLeave your number and your optometrist rings you back, usually the same day. No fee, no commitment.
Inflamed lids or blepharitis? Book the Full Dry Eye Assessment, £225. Started with the £145 assessment? It upgrades on the day.
Treatment available within the week. Have your assessment and start treatment the same day, where we can.
Gland Scan: £15 with any eye examination (included in our Gold eye examination). With either assessment, £50 is credited to any treatment you have. Read what each includes → · Unsure? Try the quick check.
Arrange a call-back with your optometrist
Leave your number. Your optometrist rings you, usually the same day. No fee, no commitment.
Inside the assessment
What the assessment measures, in brief
One visit, everything measured, a written plan for the drive home.
- Symptoms scored, day understood, eyes examined: the baseline every later visit is measured against.
- Tears counted and timed: volume, stability, and the marks on the surface, seen with a drop of dye.
- The cause pinned down: lid edge and lashes checked, blinking watched, and with the full assessment the glands photographed and inflammation tested. Type and written plan.
£145, rising to £225 with the inflammation test, with £50 set against treatment. See the whole assessment laid out →
The first appointment
Your first visit from Bradford
M606 to the M62, one junction east, two minutes into Heckmondwike. Parking outside.
- Half an hour, every key test. Tears, surface, lashes, and photos or video where they help.
- The answer, written down. Your type, your options, the prices, and £50 off any treatment.
- Then it can start this week, or straight after the assessment when we can.
Treatment
What treatment costs, from Bradford and Keighley
Everything except light happens at Heckmondwike; light is arranged with your results sent ahead. Courses are spaced so the drives are few, and £50 of your assessment comes off whichever you choose.
Treatment available within the week. Have your assessment and start treatment the same day, where we can.
- EyeClean £480 three sessions of clearing, and a kit for home
- EyeRelief (most recommended) £900 four sessions of IPL with red light, and an EyeClean
- EyeRelief Max £1,495 five IPL sessions and four EyeClean, for lids and blepharitis
- Plugs · Lacrifill £320 · £520 fitted in the chair, for the water type
Single sessions: EyeClean £195 · IPL £295. IPL is at our Middleton and Cheadle practices. The other practices refer to them.
The full description of each level → · All prices together →
Getting here from Bradford, Keighley and Halifax, and who this clinic is for
From Bradford, Keighley and Halifax
From Bradford, twenty-five minutes: the M606 to the M62, one junction east to 26, then two minutes into Heckmondwike with parking outside. From Keighley, Shipley and Bingley, allow forty minutes on the Aire Valley road and the M606. From Halifax, twenty-five minutes on the A644 through Brighouse. It is a real journey, and people make it because the gland imaging and the assessment are here, and because they are seen within a week or two without a referral. Tell us you are travelling and we put the assessment and the first treatment into one visit.
If you are under the eye department at Bradford Royal Infirmary, Airedale or Calderdale, tell us who you are under and we will write to them.
Who makes the journey from Bradford and Keighley
- People discharged from the hospital with drops and nothing else.
- Anyone whose eyes run in the wind on the moors and the hills, and sting in the car.
- Screen workers whose afternoons are a smear.
- Former lens wearers who would go back if their eyes would let them.
- Women in the menopause told it comes with the territory.
- CPAP users and anyone with a lid routine that never ends.
Reviews
What people in Heckmondwike say
4.9★★★★★
G 133 Google reviews of the Heckmondwike practice
“Excellent service”John Barker · Google review · March 2023 · Middleton
“D Igoe Opticians are extremely professional and are more than accommodating with any concerns or issues you may have with your purchase. The standard of service from start to finish is extremely high and I would recommend them to anyone looking for kind professional service.”DGD · Google review · March 2023 · Middleton
“The assistant was extremely helpful with my glasses problem and did manage to sort it out for me”June Waring · Google review · August 2022 · Winsford
Book
Book at Armitage Opticians — Heckmondwike
Every Book button on this page books Heckmondwike, half an hour from Bradford, and the number rings the desk there.
From Bradford, Keighley or Halifax, say so when you book and the assessment and the first treatment become one visit.
Frequently asked questions
How far is the dry eye clinic from Bradford and Keighley?
Twenty-five minutes from Bradford down the M606 and M62 to junction 26; about forty from Keighley, Shipley and Bingley. Tell us you are travelling and we put the assessment and the first treatment into one visit.
I’m under Bradford Royal Infirmary or Airedale for my eyes. Can I still come?
Yes. Tell us who you are under so we can write to them. Many patients use us while they wait, and some are discharged back to us for ongoing care.
Which assessment should I book from Bradford?
If you know your eyes are a problem, the Full Dry Eye Assessment: one visit, every measurement, the photographs, your results against healthy and a written plan, with £50 of the fee credited to treatment. If you are not sure, start with the Dry Eye Assessment, and treatment can start the same day where we can.
Is it free on the NHS?
No. The NHS sight test covers vision and eye health; gland imaging and dry eye treatment are not part of it. Every price is shown before you decide, and treatment is available within the week.
Can I do the assessment and the first treatment together from Bradford or Keighley?
Yes. Tell us where you are coming from when you book and we build the visit around the journey.
Is there a dry eye clinic in Keighley?
Not one with gland imaging that we know of. Ours is in Heckmondwike, about forty minutes away, and we make the journey worth it by doing the assessment and the first treatment in one visit, within the week.