How to increase oil flow with MGD?

[autumnn]

Hi All-
I have a question that I cant seem to find an answer to anywhere! I have MGD and with treatments my right one has become "comfortable"...unfortunately, my left one hurts like crazy. Anyway, my eye doctor said that the meiombin (sp?) glands are not blocked and are producing oil but not enough oil to be comfortable. Can this be helped? I have tried Doxy and fish oils to no avail- they have not helped the left eye. The only thing I havent been religious about is warm compresses....but, are these that important if I have no blocked glands? Can they help increase the oil flow in other ways?
Please help, I am feeling so desperate.

[autumnn]

sorry to answer my own question but...maybe I can answer this myself after thinking about it even more....maybe inflammation inhibits enough oil from flowing? i remember seeing an eye doctor after being on a steroid drop and she said that my oil was flowing a lot more than it was a week and a half earlier...
so, could that mean that those of us who arent producing enough oil can get the inflammation down and this could increase the oil flow?
i have been religiously doing compresses and massages on my lids for only two weeks....i just want to know if it can help in the long run....

[jlg_uk]

Something I myself have been considering is that the redness of my inner eyelids indicate inflamation, and interfering with my MGs - hence DES.

I'm going to try to get the inflamation down and see if that helps.

[HOSADOS]

my routine and drugs for MGD

more sympathetic I can't be as someone who also has MGD.
Having said that, at least until now, I have been successful to improve my condition significantly over the last months. For the record, I had blocked glands and very little oil.

my the basic treatment+ drugs/eye drops I use

(1) is lid care (external and internal side of the eye lashes, and I also clean the lid margin where the glands oppening are.
The Goal: is to open the glands oppening and clean the greasy oil

(2)followed by a hot compress (baggy rice)
The Goal: to melt the lipid oil trapped inside. Usually one of the problem or symptom if you will in MGD is a higher melting temperature of the lipid oil.

(3) right after, I squeeze and expresse the lipid oil from the Meibomian Glands, I think what I do is similar to technique Dr. Latkany describes in his book but not sure. In short what I do is I firmly roll the Q-tip like a rolling-pin up over the lid all the way to the lid margin. Then I firmly slide the Q-tip pointed head from one side to other over the lid margin. Sometime I also poke the glands oppening in the lid margin.
The Goal:to express an the trapped lipid oil after it melted

(4) Finally, I instill Dr. Holly drops (I use all of them: Dakrina, NutraTear, Freshkote and Dwelle. I also use Tears Again Advanced Liposome Eyelid Spray (equivalent to Clarymist in the u.k) which contains liposome/phospholipid (Soy lecithin) which is similar to the lipid ingredient in Freshkote. In both product it's a polar lipid as oppose to non-polar ingredient in lipid ointments and other lipid product which make the different (not to mention gels and ointments are bad for you...)
Tears Again Advanced Liposome Eyelid Spray also contain Vitamin A and Vitamin E. In general, I personally think and feel that taling vitamins through drops or spray that work (of course ) is by far more effective for the eyes than taking it through pills which I am not sure if they ever done anything for me...like many other folks here


* I follow the basic routine twice a day and use the eye drops and spray as frequent as I need. I found I am using it less and less, since it's working for me

hope that help and I wish you will find it successful as well- Good Luck

Hi All-
I have a question that I cant seem to find an answer to anywhere! I have MGD and with treatments my right one has become "comfortable"...unfortunately, my left one hurts like crazy. Anyway, my eye doctor said that the meiombin (sp?) glands are not blocked and are producing oil but not enough oil to be comfortable. Can this be helped? I have tried Doxy and fish oils to no avail- they have not helped the left eye. The only thing I havent been religious about is warm compresses....but, are these that important if I have no blocked glands? Can they help increase the oil flow in other ways?
Please help, I am feeling so desperate.

[autumnn]

Thank you so much for your responses!
I wish I was told that I had blocked glands- then I could work to unblock them and hopefully improve my condition...
but, my eye doc said that I dont have blocked glands- just reduced oil.

Can oil be increased by decreasing inflammation in the glands and through lid hygine?

It is so depressing- it is giving me a pit in my stomach just typing this...
thanks again for your help

[HOSADOS]

hi there, as I said Tears Again Liposome Eyelid Spray and Freshkote, both have polar lipid ingredient and vitamins (spray) that should improve the quality of your lipid oil and increase the quantity.Usually in MGD the quality issue is too little polar lipid (though in some case it's too much polar lipid) and not the non-polar lipid (in most cases).

good hygiene could prevent contamination and infection and thus improve the quality of your lipid oil, if this was one of the cause for that (which is usually the case, if not in first order then is second order as a secondary effect)

so the answer to your question is yes yes and yes.

also I found that healthy life style and quality sleep (both in terms of quantity and quality) help tremendously, which is quite trivial but nevertheless work. Finally, drinking a lot of water also play a positive effect. good luck

[autumnn]

Hosados-
Thank you so much for this in debth information...I was just written a prescription for freshkote and will go and pick it up today.....time to clamp down and do everything correctly- eating, water, lid hygine, restasis, sleep, flax, etc, and stop obsessing about what I cant control.
Autumnn

[brd888]

Autumnn,
I just want to add that your condition is same as mine. My glands have no obvious blockage and some oil is definitely getting to the tear film. Yet I have rapid break up of tears. It is frustrating to be advised to use heat and hygiene when the glands appear clean and healthy. It seems there is little to link the treatment to my problem i.e. it's just a "maybe" this will work.

Surely the problem is the quality of composition of our meibum? As we have been informed by this site the quantity of meibomian oil need to cover the tear film is in the terms of microlitres.

Regards.
Bruce