Dry Eye Clinic Manchester | Abra & Co
Specialist dry eye care at five practices across Greater Manchester, Cheshire and West Yorkshire. Start with a free 20-minute scan.
You deserve more than eye drops and a shrug.
Dry eye is one of the most common conditions we see across all five of our practices. It’s also one of the most mismanaged — not because it’s complicated, but because most people are never shown what’s actually causing it.
At Abra & Co, we’ve been treating dry eye since 2017. Not as an add-on to a routine eye test. As a dedicated clinical specialism, built from the ground up, guided by some of the UK’s leading ophthalmologists, and delivered by a team of seven trained optometrists across Middleton, Cheadle, Heald Green, Winsford, and Heckmondwike.
We’re a family-owned independent group. We take the time to listen. And we’ve treated over 600 dry eye patients — many of whom had already tried everything else before they found us.
Already know you want the full assessment? You can book that instead — £145 (30 min) or £225 (45 min, includes the inflammation test).
Tried Everything But Nothing Worked?
If you’ve been told dry eye can’t be treated beyond drops — or you’ve tried drops, warm compresses and lid wipes without lasting relief — the problem is usually the oil glands in your eyelids, and no drop can unblock a gland. Our Manchester dry eye clinic treats the cause. Depending on what your assessment finds, that may be the EyeClean Programme (professional lid cleaning, medical-grade heat and hands-on gland expression over three visits), gland probing for glands that heat can’t clear, punctal plugs where you’re not making enough tears, or light treatment — IPL and red light, our EyeClean Advanced and EyeRelief courses — where inflammation is driving it. It starts with a scan that shows you your own glands.
What is dry eye and why does it keep coming back?
Dry eye isn’t a single condition. It’s an umbrella term for several related problems, all of which result in the same outcome: your eyes aren’t producing or maintaining the stable tear film they need to stay comfortable and see clearly.
The symptoms can include burning, stinging, grittiness, sensitivity to light, and eyes that water for no obvious reason. Your vision may blur or fluctuate throughout the day. Your contact lenses may have become impossible to wear. You may have been told it’s just something you have to live with.
It isn’t.
The two conditions we see most often are Meibomian Gland Dysfunction and Blepharitis. Both are treatable. Both require proper clinical intervention rather than home remedies. And both are something we specialise in — across all five of our practices, with a team trained specifically to diagnose and treat them.
The two types of dry eye — and why it matters which one you have
Dry eye broadly falls into two categories. Most patients have one dominant type, though many have elements of both. Understanding which is driving your symptoms is the first thing we establish at your assessment — because the treatment differs significantly.
Evaporative Dry Eye
This is by far the most common type, accounting for around 85% of all dry eye cases. The problem isn’t that your eyes aren’t producing enough tears — it’s that your tears are evaporating too quickly.
Your tear film has three layers. The outermost is an oil layer, produced by the meibomian glands inside your eyelids. This oil acts as a seal, slowing evaporation and keeping your tear film stable between blinks. When the meibomian glands become blocked — which is extremely common and happens gradually — that oil layer thins or disappears entirely. Without it, tears evaporate within seconds of each blink. Your eyes dry out, burn, sting, and water. Your vision fluctuates.
This is Meibomian Gland Dysfunction, and it requires physical clinical intervention to treat properly. Drops replace the tears temporarily but do nothing for the blocked glands causing the problem in the first place. A meibography scan photographs these glands — that’s our free 20-minute scan, and it’s why we start there.
Blepharitis — chronic eyelid margin inflammation — is closely linked to evaporative dry eye, frequently occurring alongside MGD and compounding the instability of the tear film.
Aqueous Deficient Dry Eye
Less common but equally significant. Here the problem is the middle, watery layer of your tear film — your lacrimal glands simply aren’t producing enough of it. Without sufficient aqueous volume, your tear film can’t maintain coverage across the eye surface, leading to persistent dryness, sensitivity, and discomfort.
Aqueous deficient dry eye can be associated with:
- Autoimmune conditions such as Sjögren’s syndrome
- Certain medications including antihistamines, antidepressants, and the contraceptive pill
- Hormonal changes, particularly during menopause
- Environmental factors including air conditioning, prolonged screen use, and low humidity
Treatment for aqueous deficiency focuses on supplementing and retaining the tears you do produce — through carefully selected lubricating drops and gels, punctal plugs or Lacrifill gel where appropriate, and environmental and lifestyle modifications. Where an underlying systemic cause is suspected, we work alongside your GP to ensure nothing is being missed.
At your assessment, we establish clearly which type — or combination — is driving your symptoms, and build your treatment plan accordingly. We don’t apply a one-size-fits-all protocol, because dry eye never is.
Does this sound familiar?
Take the same six-question check our optometrists use — it takes about a minute
Common signs of dry eye: Gritty or sandy eyes, especially first thing; burning or stinging that gets worse through the day; vision that blurs after reading, screens or driving; new glasses that still don’t feel right; eyes that water for no reason; crusty or sticky lids on waking; sensitivity to screens, air conditioning or wind; drops several times a day that barely help; contact lenses that have become uncomfortable; and symptoms that have gone on for months or years. If three or more describe you, drops alone won’t solve it — the glands need clearing.
How we treat dry eye
We don’t sell one treatment to everyone. We look first, then match the treatment to what’s actually wrong. It goes in three steps.
Step 1 — Free 20-minute dry eye scan. A photograph of the oil glands inside your eyelids, taken with an optometrist. You see what we see. No charge, no obligation.
Step 2 — Dry Eye Assessment: £145 (30 minutes) or Full Assessment: £225 (45 minutes, includes the InflammaDry inflammation test). Standardised symptom scoring, lifestyle and screen-use review, tear film measurements, gland function testing, severity grading, and a personalised written plan in plain English. £50 of either assessment comes off any treatment.
Step 3 — Treatment, chosen from what we found. Each stage builds on the one below; the assessment picks the stage, so nobody is sold a cheap stage “to see if it works”.
| Stage | What it is | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Home Plan | Heat mask, lid wipes and the right drop, with the routine shown to you in the chair. For lid signs without real symptoms. | £65 |
| EyeClean | Three 30-minute sessions over six to eight weeks: heat, a deep clean of the lid edge, hands-on gland expression, and gland photographs before and after. Home kit included. Our core treatment for blocked glands. | £480 £240 today, then 4 × £60 |
| EyeClean Advanced | One EyeClean session, then three light visits two to four weeks apart: IPL on the skin below the eyes with the glands cleared straight after, then time under a red-light mask. For early redness at the lid edge, or glands that re-block after EyeClean. | £700 £352 today, then 4 × £87 |
| EyeRelief | Light at every visit. Four IPL visits — the full EyeClean at visits 1 and 3 — a review at two to three weeks, and the fourth light visit at six months. For red, vascular lid margins and rosacea-type dry eye. | £900 £452 today, then 4 × £112 |
| EyeRelief Year | EyeRelief and EyeClean combined over twelve months, for eyes that need looking after all year. | £1,295 |
| Add-ons, at any stage | Not enough tears: Lacrifill gel (both eyes, lasts up to six months) first, or punctal plugs (a pair, replaced free within six months). Glands that will not open: gland probing — one practice, one optometrist, and only when your scan shows glands worth saving. | Lacrifill £520 Plugs £320 Probing £1,500 |
| Afterwards: Dry Eye Maintenance Plan | Dry eye is managed, not cured. Two EyeClean visits a year, your Gold eye examination with OCT, contact lens checks, 10% off glasses and 20% off light treatment. Twelve-month minimum. | £40 a month |
| Single visits | When one top-up is all that's needed. | EyeClean £195 Light visit £295 |
£50 of your assessment comes off any stage. Monthly payments available on every course.
Now you can see why nothing else worked
| What you tried | Which stage it covers | What it misses |
|---|---|---|
| Eye Drops | ❌ None | Replaces tears only. Doesn’t touch the glands at all. |
| Warm Flannel | ⚠️ Partial Stage 2 | Can’t maintain 40–42°C consistently. Without Stage 3, oil re-hardens. |
| BlephEx only | 🔍 Stage 1 only | Cleans the surface but doesn’t heat or express the glands. |
| IPL on its own | Calms inflammation | Doesn’t clear blocked glands. We use IPL and red light with gland treatment, not instead of it — that’s EyeClean Advanced and EyeRelief. |
| New Glasses | ❌ None | Blurry vision is a tear film problem, not a prescription issue. |
| Our approach | ⭐ The stage you actually need | Nothing — chosen from your scan and assessment, not guessed. |
Two conditions. One integrated approach.
Because MGD and blepharitis so frequently occur together, we rarely treat one without assessing for the other. Our specialists are trained to diagnose both, understand how they interact in your specific case, and deliver a treatment plan that addresses everything — not just the loudest symptom.
The BlephEx treatment that forms the first stage of every EyeClean session was originally developed as a blepharitis treatment. The manual gland expression that follows addresses the MGD. In most patients, both are needed. In most patients, both are present.
If you’re not sure which condition is causing your symptoms, that’s exactly what your assessment is for.
Why Abra & Co
We didn’t start offering dry eye treatment because it became fashionable. We started because our patients kept coming back with the same unresolved symptoms, and we refused to accept that drops and warm flannels were the best we could offer them.
Our co-founder Sohail Khan began developing our approach in 2017, learning from ophthalmologists and attending specialist conferences across Europe — Silmo, Mido, and ophthalmology forums — driven by a straightforward belief: that our patients deserved a real solution, not a temporary one. He has personally treated over 500 dry eye patients.
Co-founder and Clinical Director Abra Arshad then built the diagnostic protocols, introduced standardised OSDI assessments and symptom scoring across all five practices, sourced the clinical equipment, and personally trained and mentored every optometrist who delivers our dry eye treatments today.
Seven trained optometrists. Five practices. Over 600 patients treated through the EyeClean Programme. 90% reporting lasting relief.
We’re independent. We’re family-run. And we take this personally — because our patients are our community, and their comfort matters to us long after they leave the chair.
“My eyes feel incredible. So much more comfortable — no comparison.” — Abra & Co patient, under ongoing care since 2022
What our patients say
Advanced diagnostic imaging at every practice
We use specialist diagnostic equipment at every one of our five practices — because understanding your dry eye properly requires seeing it clearly.
Cheadle — HD Firefly Digital Slit Lamp. Ophthalmology-grade microscope with high-definition digital recording. We show you your meibomian glands on a large screen, explaining exactly where the blockages are.
Middleton — Occify diagnostic imaging. Advanced anterior segment imaging for detailed assessment of gland structure and tear film quality.
Heald Green, Winsford & Heckmondwike — Specialist slit lamp assessment with meibomian gland evaluation and tear film quality mapping at every visit.
Every assessment includes standardised symptom scoring, lifestyle and environmental review, tear film quality mapping, manual gland function testing, severity grading, and a personalised written treatment plan in plain English.
£50 of your assessment comes off any treatment. The scan before it is free.
Five clinics across Greater Manchester, Cheshire & West Yorkshire
Abra & Co — Cheadle
19 Wilmslow Road, SK8 1DW · 0161 428 3717
HD Firefly imaging · Serving Stockport, Wilmslow, Bramhall
Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 9am–5:30pm · Sat–Sun Closed
Book a dry eye assessment — £145Abra & Co — Middleton
36 Long Street, M24 6UQ · 0161 653 0771
Ocufy diagnostic imaging · Serving North Manchester, Rochdale, Oldham
Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 9am–5:30pm · Sat–Sun Closed
Book a dry eye assessment — £145Ashworth Opticians — Heald Green
214 Finney Lane, SK8 3QA · 0161 527 7356
Serving Heald Green, Wythenshawe, Gatley
Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 9am–5:30pm · Sat–Sun Closed
Book a dry eye assessment — £145Winsford Eye & Footcare — Winsford
27 Delamere Street, CW7 2LX · 01606 599030
Serving Winsford, Northwich, Middlewich, Mid-Cheshire
Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 9am–5:30pm · Sat–Sun Closed
Book a dry eye assessment — £145Armitage Opticians — Heckmondwike
14 Market Street, WF16 0JU · 01924 669649
Serving Dewsbury, Batley, Cleckheaton, Spen Valley
Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 9am–5:30pm · Sat–Sun Closed
Book a dry eye assessment — £145FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
No. You can book directly by calling your nearest practice or using the booking form below. No GP referral needed.
That’s exactly what your specialist assessment establishes. You don’t need to know before you arrive — we’ll work it out together using diagnostic imaging and symptom scoring.
Yes — and it’s one of the most commonly missed symptoms. When your tear film is unstable, light refracts unevenly across the eye surface, causing vision to blur or fluctuate. Many patients are told they need new glasses when the real issue is their tear film. Once the glands are cleared and the film stabilises, the blurriness often resolves completely.
Yes. Every one of our five practices has trained optometrists delivering the full EyeClean Programme, specialist diagnostic equipment, and the same standardised clinical protocols.
Many patients feel improvement after the first session. The full programme runs over six to eight weeks with three visits, and results build at each stage. Most patients then maintain with a brief top-up visit every six to twelve months.
Book an assessment and let us find out. We see patients who’ve been told their symptoms are allergies, prescription-related, or simply age-related — and in many cases, the underlying cause is dry eye. The assessment is designed to give you a clear answer either way.
Yes. It’s a photograph of your glands and a conversation with an optometrist. If you want a diagnosis and a written plan, that’s the assessment — £145 — and £50 of it comes off any treatment.
The scan shows whether your glands are blocked. The assessment measures your tear film, tests for inflammation, grades how severe it is and gives you a plan.
Yes — in our EyeClean Advanced (£700) and EyeRelief (£900) courses, always alongside gland treatment, where inflammation is driving the dry eye.
Ready to find out what's causing your dry eyes?
Start with a free 20-minute scan — see your own glands, no charge, no obligation. £50 of your assessment comes off any treatment.
Cheadle: Cheadle: 0161 428 3717
· Middleton: 0161 653 0771 ·
Heald Green: 0161 527 7356 Winsford: 01606 599030
· Heckmondwike: 01924 669649
GOC Registered · College of Optometrists · Association of Optometrists
· BlephEx Certified Abra & Co — Independent, Family-Owned Eye Care Since 2017
