Measure TBBT at home?

[Litian]

Hi, my boyfriend is suffering from MGD and these days the progress for recovery is really slow (probably no progress). This fact makes him very easy to feel depressed.

So I am thinking is there anyway to measure TBBT at home, then maybe we can measure it every week to see the progress, or at least we know that something is wrong.

Thanks

[browneyesblu]

You can probably get a good idea of tear break-up time by watching him blink with a stopwatch and counting the seconds in between blinks. If he blinks every 5 seconds his TBUT is around 5, and so on. Do it at different times of day as it can vary significantly.

[littlemermaid]

Does he have eye exams? It is possible to buy Schirmer strips too, and the red thread, I forget what that's called, but we've never bothered. In the early days I wanted things measured too and even bought an ophthalmoscope, but it's how his eyes feel and finding things that help keep the eye surface moist that really matter. We have adjusted our lives to accommodate dry eyes and it's been very good as long as we respect the condition eg eye protection when needed, avoiding late nights and polluted environment, and screen breaks. I have to say the worst is air conditioning.

Does he have an otherwise normal life? Because dry eye is increasingly common and he is not alone with this, especially at work in offices, labs and clinics.

You might get used to looking at his eyes, Litian, and noticing if they are dry eg blinking or even lack of tear film. What I notice is 'orange peel' sclera, even slight discolouration, and red eyelid margins or even some redness at the limbus, more than the usual red veins in sclera. Then I say it's time to put in eye drops, take a break with eyes shut, or go home.

My favourite quick measure is tear meniscus - that just means noticing how much tear is 'pooling' along the lower eyelid margin. They can measure it in the slit lamp microscope but we can just look with our own eyes and compare with 'normal'.

Is he doing well with a good clean diet? That does noticeably affect eyes for us, and in our case, the skin. I have banned sugar and fruit drinks but she is still sneaking them...

If he lets you, ha, and you want to check meibom, make sure your nails are super short and hands super clean, and gently press upwards under lower eyelashes with fingers 1 and 2 flat next to each other but pinching together very slightly. Try this on yourself first and you may see a tiny row of dots of 'baby oil' consistency along the eyelid margin halfway between eyelash follicles and where eyelid touches the eye surface. While you're there, check he's cleaned as thoroughly as possible so there is no yellowish crusting around the eyelash bases.

You will both get a feel for this that is worth far more than any measure, and it is very kind of you to look for ways to help him get used to dealing with this. Hope you guys can get on with the good times too.

[Litian]

You can probably get a good idea of tear break-up time by watching him blink with a stopwatch and counting the seconds in between blinks. If he blinks every 5 seconds his TBUT is around 5, and so on. Do it at different times of day as it can vary significantly.

I confirmed with my bf. He said he feels it is a good idea to try. Thanks!

[Litian]

Hey, Thanks for your long and helpful reply, littermermaid! Both my bf and I really appreciate this.

One quick question on top, why do you meation clean diet? Why does that matters? We never heard of that before.

He had eye exams before and that's why we know that it is MGD. I would keep in mind what you have said about those measure ways, and disucss with him about how we are going to use them.

I agree with you. Regular life is so important and A/C is really bad for eyes .

For his case, it is already one year since he had MGD. During previous year, he managed to get recovered to a reasonable level (not fully recovered) twice but in the end due to sleeping problems/depression/other reasons, now he is at the lowest point again. And we are trying really hard for the third time.

Did you take out the plugs in the eyes by yourself? I have heard that we should not take it out by ourselves, but he feels confortable after that.

I guess that you get recovered already. Can you share more useful tips from your experience? This is what we already have, a strict schedule to go to sleep, screen breaks, air humidifier at home, some special goggles for keep the eyes moist.

Wish everyone could get better.