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**Guest** · 18-Dec-2018, 03:13

If you have that few glands left why don't you try sclerals? If you can tolerate the feel of the lenses they would keep your cornea bathed in saline all day and might help reduce redness. Dr G is in your state and a good fitter. I resisted trying them for a long time as they weren't a cure but they are amazing at ridding my symptoms in some people.

I've looked at the paper where they showed glands regrowing and in some people they regrew but only a little. I had probing done and felt a bit better dryness wise for a few weeks then it went downhill again. My glands did not regrow at all. It wasn't too painful, like someone briefly poking your skin with the tip of a needle. It could be worth a try, just I wouldn't get your hopes up to much for all your glands to grow back.

**Topher3** · 18-Dec-2018, 03:41

I�m very sorry to hear about your red eyes, I too have red eyes and it�s upsetting, however I�ve made my best effort to understand that this is lifelong for me, and that in order to be able to move passed the horrible reality I have to be grateful for what I do have. I know this doesn�t help you but I thought it�s important to say. In regards to probing, Be VERY careful, I know a lot of people on this site have had great results but there sure is a tonne of horror stories out there. I too at one stage wanted to jump straight into probing but if your doctor is not careful they can cause complete gland atrophy and your redness will be the least of your concern. Please make sure you research reliable doctors because some people who thought they had it bad are now living in a completely different realty post probing.

**MGD1701** · 18-Dec-2018, 03:46

85% gland atrophy
Sorry to hear it. I think LipiFlow or IPL should still help as you must make sure to keep rest of glands healthy. Make sense?

Prof/Dr. Richard Yee in Houston
I have read 1-2 posts here in the forum, rated him positive. I know he is well-regarded. I do believe a real expert makes a big diffference, after all too many NEW knowledge in dry eye - which most doctors are behind. An accurate diagnose = effective treatment are the keys. If you do visit him, please share so we can learn something. Thank you.

moisture glasses highly recommend to avoid enviornmential stress.

here is my old post, in case you care to know more on treatment order etc
http://forum.dryeyezone.com/forum/ar...a-tea-tree-oil

**MGD1701** · 18-Dec-2018, 05:06

Originally posted by Guest View Post

I have been going to doctors 5+ years and of course the normal stuff was pushed on me - OTC drops, steroids, punctal plugs, Xiidra, allergy drops.. blah blah - each provided ZERO improvement. None of my countless visits over the years provided any info on MGD, nor did anyone examine my glands. Through my own research and this website I found out about MGD and requested Lipiscan 2 months ago with the result that 85% of my glands had atrophied. ....- but I left the appointment in tears because
#1- they gave me no hope for improvement besides trying out Restasis, and
#2 - WHY didn't someone tell me this 5 years ago when I had a chance to save my glands??!!

You are not alone. I have visited +15 doctors non-stop for some years, mostly just recommended OTC drops = no treament.
In short, there is a big hope for you as you live in USA with all advanced/new treatments and real experts.
I dont have such luck so can only keep educating myself for new things & it has paid off, 1.5 years ago.
Still I do feel sad as MGD is preventable, if detected earlier: a thumb to express glands & 5 seconds.
You can make it - just need a real expert. Good luck!

**Milo007** · 18-Dec-2018, 08:22

Originally posted by Lena11 View Post

If you have that few glands left why don't you try sclerals? If you can tolerate the feel of the lenses they would keep your cornea bathed in saline all day and might help reduce redness. Dr G is in your state and a good fitter. I resisted trying them for a long time as they weren't a cure but they are amazing at ridding my symptoms in some people.

I've looked at the paper where they showed glands regrowing and in some people they regrew but only a little. I had probing done and felt a bit better dryness wise for a few weeks then it went downhill again. My glands did not regrow at all. It wasn't too painful, like someone briefly poking your skin with the tip of a needle. It could be worth a try, just I wouldn't get your hopes up to much for all your glands to grow back.

Just one interesting fact from Dr. Sandra's blog where she presented the case of a patient with truncated glands. This patient did probing once before but there was no gland regrowth. However, Dr. Sandra did probing again on him followed by PRP injections. The glands regrew within 3 months and the growth was significant.

Maybe it's worth doing another probing with PRP injections this time. What do you think?

**Guest** · 18-Dec-2018, 09:02

Thank you all SO much for the comments/suggestions. I think the reason I'm so interested in probing as after my doctor recommended I try the warm compresses, that same week I felt like something was in my eye and then felt a warm sensation flood into one of my eyes - it was WONDERFUL! I wonder if this is how normal people feel all the time? Assuming this was oil flowing that was previously capped? Obviously hoping for gland regrowth also, but if I find a few more of these are simply capped, maybe I will get some improvement. Either way - I think it's time for a MGD expert - sad I live in Dallas and there are no experts here... but I would assume now that everyone is having their glands examined there will be a lot more focus on MGD treatments.

**Guest** · 18-Dec-2018, 09:46

Milo007 I did it with the PRP injections. Also could I have the link? I have seen some of her pictures showing regrowth and I actually think on a few of them its just the poor quality of the image which makes it seem like the gland has regrown. Even if you look at ******'s paper, on the first example of 'regrowth,' close inspection shows the figure is more zoomed in for the second image, which makes it look like growth, but its just not there.

Exciting if there was a lot of growth though!

**MGD1701** · 18-Dec-2018, 10:03

Warm compress, great it helps, just remind you be careful with the temperatue, LipiFlow is about 42C.
Higher melt glands effectively but bad for the cornea.

**Milo007** · 18-Dec-2018, 11:21

Originally posted by Lena11 View Post

Milo007 I did it with the PRP injections. Also could I have the link? I have seen some of her pictures showing regrowth and I actually think on a few of them its just the poor quality of the image which makes it seem like the gland has regrown. Even if you look at ******'s paper, on the first example of 'regrowth,' close inspection shows the figure is more zoomed in for the second image, which makes it look like growth, but its just not there.

Exciting if there was a lot of growth though!

Yes sure!

******'s Evidence of meibomian gland regrowth after probing :

https://www.eyeworld.org/research-fi...bing-technique

The pictures look fine to me not zoomed. Are the pictures the same ones you saw?

Cremer's evidence of meibomian gland regrowth after probing with PRP injections :

http://eyedoc2020.blogspot.com/2017/...-into.html?m=1

Again the picture looks absolutely fine to me. There's two completely truncated glands regrowing to full length. That's definitely a lot of regrowth!

I think individual expertise and skills play a big role when it comes to probing. Also the kind of probes they use is important.

Is Dr. Cremers the one who performed probing of your glands?

**Alix** · 18-Dec-2018, 15:16

Originally posted by Topher3 View Post

I�m very sorry to hear about your red eyes, I too have red eyes and it�s upsetting, however I�ve made my best effort to understand that this is lifelong for me, and that in order to be able to move passed the horrible reality I have to be grateful for what I do have. I know this doesn�t help you but I thought it�s important to say. In regards to probing, Be VERY careful, I know a lot of people on this site have had great results but there sure is a tonne of horror stories out there. I too at one stage wanted to jump straight into probing but if your doctor is not careful they can cause complete gland atrophy and your redness will be the least of your concern. Please make sure you research reliable doctors because some people who thought they had it bad are now living in a completely different realty post probing.

Absolutely agree. I am willing to have this done if it is going to guarantee meibomian gland growth but at the moment there is just not enough evidence that this is the case.
Yes there has been regrowth on some patients, but how high is the success rate and will the glands still at the same length in 5, 10 years time? We just don`t know at the moment, and I am not willing to risk my condition getting even worse.

**Guest** · 18-Dec-2018, 15:25

I have an appointment with Dr. Yee in Houston on 12/28. Not sure if I will be a candidate for probing with the dropout I have.... but we will see. Cost is $1k per eyelid so up to $4k - EEEEKKK!!!! I'll be sure to post my experience after.

**Topher3** · 18-Dec-2018, 16:28

Originally posted by Guest View Post

I have an appointment with Dr. Yee in Houston on 12/28. Not sure if I will be a candidate for probing with the dropout I have.... but we will see. Cost is $1k per eyelid so up to $4k - EEEEKKK!!!! I'll be sure to post my experience after.

Good luck .

**Guest** · 02-Jan-2019, 12:11

I went to my appointment in Houston with Dr Yee on 12/28. Received MUCH more extensive testing and information than any of my prior dr's appointments in Dallas. Schirmers test was 13 and 17 which I was happy about, but he said people my age can be in the 20's. No blepharitis. He confirmed I'm a stage 3-4 with gland loss per my scans (4 is the worst). He pressed on my glands and basically nothing came out. He films this and puts on a huge TV screen so you can see the results. He gave me the ****** article on probing and gland regrowth (that I had already read). He also did a VERY extensive examination and staining to look for damage. He said I have zero damage but have a conjunctivochalasis. He said its likely my eyes don't FEEL dry but are very red is because I have no damage but he did notice I was very red at my appointment and I told him this is how I look 95% of the day and the redness is my #1 complaint. He also said the chalasis could be a cause of the redness.

Dr. Yee believes that gland regrowth is possible. I asked if he had seen it himself, and he replied that he has not taken measurements the way ****** did but he has seen improvements firsthand in his patients. I believe he has been probing for a year or so. He estimates 10-60% of people improve with probing (seemed like a strange range to me..) and 50-60% improve with the meds he prescribes.

Dr. Yee prescribed a drug called Daspone 4X day for 30 days for inflammation, and Spironoloctone 4X day to improve the gland oil. I had to get these at a compounding pharmacy and scripts were $100 total. Daspone is drug previously used to treat Leprosy? Honestly I'm a bit nervous about putting these drugs in my body but like most of you on this forum, will try just about anything. These are FDA approved drugs but not for eye use? Dr. Yee said he was taking them to the FDA for approval. You can't use these bottles longer than 30 days due to no preservatives. He also prescribed a blinking exercise and saline rinses after and Flaxseed 3X day which I had already been taking.

I'm on day 5 of the new meds, plus taking my regular Restasis 2X day - no improvement to date but Dr. Yee said it could take a couple weeks to notice a difference. He recommended probing if the medications don't work and possible surgery to remove the chalasis. I have another appt scheduled late January.

Overall it was a good experience and I highly recommend Dr. Yee if you can make a trip to Houston. He spent about an hour with me and you can almost see his brain trying to figure out what your issue is when he is examining you. After I left the appointment when I was checking out he comes out of his office again to ask if my eyes were itchy. I thought it showed he was really thinking about my redness complaint and if allergies could be the cause. I felt he truly was concerned about what would help me! The only slight negative about Dr. Yee is he come across is a bit "authoritative" with his staff but certainly still worth checking out if you are in TX.

**MGD1701** · 02-Jan-2019, 16:04

Thanks for sharing. Glad you have finally found a doctor who is ''capable to make an accurate diagnose'' on the 1st visit.
Pretty sure he can put your condition under control in 3-4 visits. Curious to know the followings, if you dont mind.

Conjunctivochalasis/CCH & symptoms
you wrote: ''He said its likely my eyes don't FEEL dry but are very red is because I have no damage ...
He also said the chalasis could be a cause of the redness.''
Curious if your eyes dont feel dry? What are your key symptoms? Are your lid margins also red?

Inflammation
Great doctor treats this since no blepharitis nor (cells) damage were found.
How did doctor detect the inflammation, with MMP-9?

Probing
Did doctor explain WHY probing would work? Maybe still have acini? Doctor did not recommend LipiFlow nor IPL?

Testings
what testings doctor did, apart from dyes, schirmer? Perhaps osmolarity, MMP-9?

saline rinses
When to apply this (after compress?) and its purpose? You dont need artifical tears?

Causes
Did doctor identify causes (rather than CCH and partial blinking?) of your MGD?

Hope you will find relief soon. Would be great if you could share with us more late January - so we can learn too. Thanks.

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