Blocked meibomian glands

[acarol]

Just a question someone may be able to answer for me - i have dry eyes with stinging, burning sensatation. Occasionally also i notice a little swelled bump along my eyelid, i leave it alone and it disappears again, i don't get these all the time only occasionally, do i have blocked meibomian gland?
They can pop up on either eye and then overnight just disappear again.

[rubyslippers]

Sounds very much like it. It might be well worth your time to try Dr. Latkany's "eye spa" technique to open it up and get it working right. It is explained on one of his threads.

[acarol]

I tried that but nothing really happens when i squeeze along the eyelids. Could i have blocked meibomian glands even if the lids looks normal about 90% of the time and when one does 'sprout' up should i just leave it or try to squeeze it? Unfort on any one of my eye appointments i haven't had one visible.

[stella]

Hi Acarol!
Greetings from Ireland(the north)
I can identify with the swelling in your eyelids I too had a fairly large swelling which my Dr said was a swelling of one of the tiny glands and she perscibed chloramphenical eye ointment which i applied and within a week it had dissapearedThe name for this cyst is a chalazion and it differs from a stye in that the stye is an infected eyelash folicle rather than a blocked gland Concerning blocked mebomian glands - If you are getting chalazion type cysts it is almost certain that you have blocked glands in the lids
My optometrist was able to demonstrate these blocked glands by staining and then digitaly photographing the eyes and lids and magnifying the photos many times
I am much better than I was since using chloramphenical(antibiotic )ointment on my eyelid margins after heating and squeezing the lids each night before bed I have been doing this for 6 months now
I hardly ever need drops in them now and go for weeks without any symptoms
I went on doing the eyelid heating and squeezing even when I had the cyst and i think it helped the cyst to go down
Hope this helps you
Cheers
Stella

[acarol]

Hi Stella,

Thanks for you help, you see the funny thing is the swelling disappears again usually overnight without me toucing it. I've been for numerous eye tests and none of them mentioned blocked glands!! I've another appointment at the end of the month so will mention it to them then. Are your eyes dry aswell?

[stella]

Hi acarol
Right enough chalazion cysts do last a longer time than yours seem to - mind it sounds like a temparary blockage of some of the ducts - probably due to the oil being too thick - like toothpaste or something
Heat and massage are supposed to unblock
In answer to the question do i still have dry eyes -----
I suppose i will always have a tendency to DE ,and if i stopped my treatment for a while i am pretty sure i would go back to square one - so it is an indefinate commitment to eyelid hygiene
But i can now forget about my eyes and only ever need drops occationally - like once a week or even less. After all i have been through i call that success
With me , unblocking glands was the key
In retrospect --- it goes something like this
Blocked mebomian glands = blepharitis = inflamation of the lids causing them to feel prickly and itchy and sore
That in turn = no oil = quick evaporation of the tears = holes in the tear film = burning pain and sensitivity of the eyeball probably causing allergies ,or at least intolerance, of anything and everything i put in or near my eyes including many brands of artificial tears
please correct me anyone who thinks i have it wrong - especially you experts --- Im just trying to analyse the sequence of events as i see it-- Its a bit like detective work
Anyway the main thing i have found is that once i got to the root cause which for me was blocked glands due to blepharitis and treated that successfully- the rest seems to have resolved itself
gradually
I do hope this is some help -- to anyone out there who may have similar problems to me
Good luck acarol
Stella

[acarol]

Thanks for that - i just wish i knew the root cause of my dry eyes, i will try the steaming again and try to do what you described. Most of the time my eyes look NORMAL. When i tried the steaming before though they felt bit dryer after it.