oil glands- connection between skin and eyes?

[Amy09]

hello everybody! i have a question regarding oil production. i have extremely oily skin- my dermatologist has me using something called OC Eight that is supposed to decrease the oil production in my skin, but my skin is so oily that is doesn't really work. my dermatologist said that i might even have to consider lasering my oil glands in the future (although i don't think i'm going to get this done b/c i'm sure it is very expensive) because it just seems to get worse every year- every couple hours i get a THICK layer of oil across my whole face. i use up probably about 8 oil absorbing sheets a day to mop up all the oil. it is so bad that my face looks like it has been sprayed with water.

a year or so ago when i went to my opthalmologist for a checkup on the condition of my eyes he said that he actually feels like a lot of my eye problems might be rooted in the fact that the oil glands in my eyes are overactive.

could there be some kind of a connection between my oily skin and the oil glands in my eyes? is there some way to get to the root of the problem and fix this? do any of y'all have experiences with this?

[alisonW]

Hi Amy...

I'm assuming your eyes are dry? Red? Sore? I have extremely dry eyes and ocular rosacea (sel-diagnosed) and at the same time have extremely oily skin like you. I don't know what the connection would be except that we both need the eyes and skin to balance out.

[kitty]

I also have ocular rosacea (diagnosed by an MD) and facial rosacea. I was doing some research and discovered that people with facial rosacea tend to have oily skin. I'm hoping to start on doxycycline next week and hope that will help the eyes, the face and the oil!

[Amy09]

hmm let me know if the doxycycline works for you... i am pretty sure i don't have ocular/facial rosacea though. my eyes are red, but my skin is pretty fair.

[kitty]

hmm let me know if the doxycycline works for you... i am pretty sure i don't have ocular/facial rosacea though. my eyes are red, but my skin is pretty fair.

Rosacea is most common in fair skinned people. About 20% of rosacea sufferers experience the onset of eye symptoms (same as DES symptoms) before the onset of facial flushing. I am in that 20%.

I have been treating my DES for over 3 years now and until last week, the diagnosis was DES. Now I learn I have ocular rosacea, and probably MGD which goes hand in hand with that.

Why can't we get a proper diagnosis to begin with?

[alisonW]

Kitty is correct...

about it being very possible for you to have ocular rosacea without having any facial sumptoms. I too have it and as you can see from my photo, do not have a problem with my skin. I have actually only ever flushed twice.

[calcan]

about it being very possible for you to have ocular rosacea without having any facial sumptoms. I too have it and as you can see from my photo, do not have a problem with my skin. I have actually only ever flushed twice.

I have the same situation - my skin is basically ok. What are you doing to treat the ocular rosacea?

[alisonW]

I'm not doing ...

much at all now. I am taking 1000mg of Black Currant Seed oil and cleaning my lids and lashes with Ocusoft Lid Scrub Foam but that's it. Occasionally I'll do warm compresses but they've never seemed to help much. I was on both doxycycline and Restasis for two solid years for the OR and neither did much of anything so I stopped. I think, for me, that's one of the most frustrtaing parts - there's not much that can be done for OR and nothing has ever helped the redness much unfortunately.

[odydnas]

Your eyelids are actually are considered a part of your skin, and both the oil glands on your skin and on your eye margins are the same kind: sebaceous glands. That's the reason why people with acne will always have some degree of MGD (lots of people with mgd are asymptomatic), and also the reason why docs started prescribing tetracyclines for mgd after seeing that it helped with acne. With that said, if your oil glands on your face are not acting normal, it's likely that your meibomian glands are not behaving normally as well.

What did your ophthalmologist say about your meibomian glands? Is your oily face causing you breakouts?

And as for rosacea, I am fairly tanned and have very mild rosacea, but I have severe ocular rosacea. Don't rule out ocular rosacea even if you show no facial symptoms.

[rhad]

thank you all for posting this information. I am a 21 year old male. I have had mgd for 4 years now. I also see their is a connection between skin, and meibomian gland function. I have normal skin, i've never had any acne, or rosacea breakouts or flushing or any of those facial discoloration or symptoms. however, i have extremely oily skin around my eyes/eyelids, nose, and forehead? could i possible have ocular rosacea? how can one tell? also, warm compresses don't seem to help much either for me. somedays my eyelids produce oil, and others they don't, i don't think it's just about melting oils that solidify in my glands, but the glands just seem to work and then sometimes not.

rhad

[kitty]

thank you all for posting this information. I am a 21 year old male. I have had mgd for 4 years now. I also see their is a connection between skin, and meibomian gland function. I have normal skin, i've never had any acne, or rosacea breakouts or flushing or any of those facial discoloration or symptoms. however, i have extremely oily skin around my eyes/eyelids, nose, and forehead? could i possible have ocular rosacea? how can one tell? also, warm compresses don't seem to help much either for me. somedays my eyelids produce oil, and others they don't, i don't think it's just about melting oils that solidify in my glands, but the glands just seem to work and then sometimes not.

rhad

An ophthalmologist should be able to diagnose rosacea, mgd, blepharitis, etc.

[suneetk1]

Hi Amy,
Have you ever tried Accutane? As far as I know, it reduces oil production to combat acne but obviously you Derma would know alot more. Apparently it can have severe side effects.
I have oily skin, but not to the extent you described but my eyes are dry as the oil glands are blocked, MGD. My Dermatologist AND Opthamologist both want to put me on a course on Doxycycline but I cant do that at the moment.
I would also suggest a good workout routine, exercise does amazing things for the body.
Take care & wishing you luck.

Suneet.

[alisonW]

FYI - A note about Accutane.

Accutane is not a good idea if your eyes are already dry. My eye docs think having taken it back in my 20's could be the mian reason I have so many eye problems now. One of my friends who also happens to be an opthalmologist (sp?) also has severely dry eyes and attributes her problems (redness too) to having taken Accutane years ago as well. There are also some other threads on the board about the drug bring used to *cause* MGD in studies.

[Stanza]

Have a dermatologist appt next week, I think I have ocular and facial rosacea, I seem to have some veins showing on my lids, I have red cheeks, it runs in the family etc,... never been to a dermatologist before, any comments on questions I should ask? Strange question I know but I don't live in my native country so sometimes the language barrier means it's good to go prepared!!

[Amy09]

eek i definitely never want to try accutane! i have heard horrible things about accutane (and of course, the stuff it can do to your eyes)! i actually have really really clear skin thanks to my dermatologist... it's just the oiliness that is a problem. how do i find out if i have ocular/facial rosacea?