MG appearance - what do you guys think?

[Guest]

I'm trying to learn what MG's look like when very obviously normal vs. blocked vs. merely thick oils...

So, feeling somewhat ridiculous, I took a look at my husband's MG's since he has perfectly normal eyes (at least as far as we know lol)... I've also looked at my kids (but since they are 1 and 3 yrs old, I can't get a really close look like I could with my hubby!)

So now I figure I know what NORMAL ones look like...

Then I looked on google to see diseased ones... the youtube videos and other pics all show very obviously diseased ones - the glands appear to be bulging with meibum... they almost look like like the whiteheads you get with acne. Mine don't look like that either... I had a few that did that (only mildly though) back in the fall... but they are no longer like that.

My MG's look about the size of a pin hole... and they look like they have tiny white plugs in them... these "plugs" don't bulge out at all. Some of my MG's even look normal like my husbands... but they are in the minority.

Being a super geek, I bought a 10x magnifying mirror, and set up a bright flashlight to shine at my lid margins when I expressed them (plus I had the bathroom light on too). I never see anything coming out of them when I attempt to express them using Dr. Latkany's technique from his book. Often, towards the end of the day, I see the little tiny "plugs" poking out a tiny bit... if I wipe at them with a kleenex, they normally don't wipe away. By the next morning, they are usually back to being flat again.

My lid margins do not appear red at all... I suppose they might be the tiniest bit pink though...

So... I'm wondering if my glands might be totally blocked then??

I also managed to find a some good pics showing atrophied vs. non-atrophied MG's... mine definitely do not appear atrophied... so that is good news at least. (I don't remember where I found this though... sorry... otherwise I'd have posted links for you guys...)

Of course I'll be discussing my MG's with my doc again at my next appt... but in the mean time, just wondering what your experiences and thoughts are.

[RobLIC]

SAAG, my MGs looks they way you describe yours - i.e. not so bad. But their boring appearance gives no indication of the grief they cause me. I have seen videotape of my forcible gland expression and the disease is a lot more apparent that way than anything I could ever reproduce.

I've come to think of the material sitting inside the glands as (pardon the drama) stagnant river water. If it doesn't get turned over, it just gets murkier. And I don't think we can see the material causing that inflammation because it's "beneath" the plug. Point being, at-home expression is no replacement for a good squeezing from a doc ....

[irish eyes]

This is similar to how my glands look - scroll down to see image of an upper lid. My eyelashes aren't as good as those in the image and the edges are more florid.

http://www.eyecareeducators.com/site..._treatment.htm

They have been difficult to express recently and they feel very `clogged up'.

My consultant said even people with `normal eyes' can have visible meibomium glands. I don't think my husband would let me examine his lids although it has passed through mind.

I've got a strong LED cycle lamp so maybe the time has come to execute an attack.

[Plat]

The redness is inside the lids usually, not on top. Mine may look that there are no whiteheads, sometimes, and when I apply decent pressure, thick wax comes out. Sometimes it comes out in strings that is over an inch long. Sometimes oil comes out sometimes wax. Just like squeezing blackheads or whiteheads on your nose.

I have read that MGD is an overproduction, not underprodution, of sebum. Basically, so much is produced that the eye can't handle anymore so it backs up and becomes thick. You unplug them and so much comes out and plugs again. That is why IPL and so on does cure it and you have to keep going back. It is a cycle. That is why doxy is recommended, it slows down oil production, and thins it so it comes out slower so it does not plug up. I was confused when they said doxy should be used to lessen the oil.

I remember about 10 years ago I woke up and my eyelids were stuck together like glue. I had to wash them to open them. Never thought anything of it. So much oil was coming out the glands that eyes stuck shut.

When your face is oily it is because you are producing a lot of oil and when you get black heads and whiteheads, it is because the oil backs up and can not come out anymore.

MGD is like acne in the eyelids. Just a guess. Excess oil that clogs the pores in the face try to escape through the meibomian glands?

http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&ct=clnk&gl=ca

http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=Cau...ecbef,6e149488

[Guest]

chemia, thanks for the tip about the 20x mirror... I'll have to hunt down one of those...

Rob - that's interesting to know that when expressed by a doctor they do indeed show significant disease despite the fact that they don't look too bad.

I don't think my husband would let me examine his lids although it has passed through mind.

I've got a strong LED cycle lamp so maybe the time has come to execute an attack.

Heehee... my husband was quite amused by the whole thing I think... I ended up giggling hysterically while trying to look at his MG's... I mean the whole thing just seemed so ridiculous really...we were in the living room on the couch in front of the bay window with our 2 kids looking on while I shone a flashlight at his lower lids from inches away... my 3 year old must have thought his mother had gone crazy...

but what can I say... my curiousity had gotten the better of me, and I just HAD to know what normal MG's look like lol

And thanks for your post as well Plat... I've often wondered how much MG dysfunction might have in common with pores getting clogged up in acne.

[Aaron77]

Are there a lot of docs out there that will perform the lid expressions? I don't think mine does it, just tells me continue with the doxy, restasis and warm compresses. I'm not goo d at keeping up with the warm compresses, maybe because I feel they just agitate especially if I do them often.

SAAG have you found a doctor that will do the expressions yet?

[Guest]

No, I haven't asked any of them if they do it yet... None of my docs have suggested it though, so I assume they either a)don't do expressions, or b)don't think I need it

I plan on asking my doc what he thinks at my next appt. though... I see him at the end of the month. Personally, I'd like him to try expressing my glands, just to see what happens... if it helped my comfort level, I'd be ecstatic!

I am religious about doing the warm compress/expression as per Dr. Latkany's book though.... not sure if I'm expressing the glands hard enough... maybe that's the trouble... but i don't want to hurt myself either! lol