LipiFlow device - what the????

[craig9563]

Hi folks,
I got diagnosed with dry eye after two failed tear duct surgeries (DCR). My tears ducts are still blocked but no one seems to know why the attempted surgery suddenly caused severe dry eye (I just had intermittent watering due to blocked ducts before the ill-fated surgery). Anyway, I was about to have a course of IPL but the optometrist now says evidence from the USA suggests it is best to have lipiflow first, and then some IPL. Does anyone know about this idea? Thanks.

[Jahcpa]

I had not heard that. The University of Michigan has told me they stopped offering Lipiflow as they do not find it that effective. Unfortunately I am not finding that IPL is helping me much after 4 treatments.

[Deydey89]

Hello everybody,

first of all, English is not my mother language, so if I make some mistakes I'm sorry.

I was suffering from MGD for 7 years of my life. I'm 27 now.

It all started at the age of 20 when I took an acne medicine Isotretinoin. This medicine has clogged the meibom glands outlets. My eyes become dryer and dryer over the 7 years and I didn't know what was the reason for it. I went to doctors but they all didn't know and couldn't help me at all. Maybe 3 years ago I found a doctor who could tell me that I was suffering from MGD, so I started lid hygiene every day before going to bed. But it did not help, my eyes still became dryer. I trid lots of eye drops, became vegan (more or less), started drinking lots of water, stopped drinking coffee, stopped eating sweets, went to bed very early and tried to sleep a long time. I didn't go to partys anymore and stopped all friendship because it was horrible to live with my dry eyes.

I investigated on the internet for 7 years what I can do to get normal eyes again. I found out that there's the possibility to do meibom gland probing and my eyes were broken enough so I decided to see a doctor in Heidelberg, Germany, who I found on the internet. Fortunately, this doctor does not do probing but has a system LipiFlow from TearScience which could open the clogged glands. I didn't know about LipFlow at that time. He was the first doctor who could tell my with LipiView that nearly all my glands were closed and this was the reason for my severe dry eyes. Besides, he told me that my glands looked pretty good, all of them produced enough oil. So he offered me to do LipiFlow for 1100€ for both eyes and I accepted.

My LipiFlow treatment was done nearly 1 month ago now, 3 weeks after the treatment I went to the doctor again and he told me that on one eye, only 2 glands were not open. This is a very good result. All the other glands are open now and they are producing lots of oil. If I take a look in the mirror very closely I can see the oil on my lids! When I blink I can feel the tears in my eyes. My eyes have become whiter again and the veins left and right to the pupil aren't that visible as before LipiFlow. I stopped doing lid hygiene 2 weeks ago and I don't see any need to do it again. I only need to drop in max. 2 eye drops per eye a day. This is very low because before LipiFlow I could drop in 1 eye drop every 10 minutes and my eyes still felt dry and burned.

I can say that my meibom gland disfunction has healed. I hope that it will last forever and that I don't have to repeat LipiFlow. But due to the fact that my disfunction has been caused by an acne medicine (which is my opinion) and not caused by old age, I think that I don't have to repeat it so early.

Of course I don't expect miracles. My eyes have been dry since 7 years now and so they will never be normal. But I can live with this condition now.

Regards, DeyDey89

[Mazza818]

Hello everybody,

first of all, English is not my mother language, so if I make some mistakes I'm sorry.

I was suffering from MGD for 7 years of my life. I'm 27 now.

It all started at the age of 20 when I took an acne medicine Isotretinoin. This medicine has clogged the meibom glands outlets. My eyes become dryer and dryer over the 7 years and I didn't know what was the reason for it. I went to doctors but they all didn't know and couldn't help me at all. Maybe 3 years ago I found a doctor who could tell me that I was suffering from MGD, so I started lid hygiene every day before going to bed. But it did not help, my eyes still became dryer. I trid lots of eye drops, became vegan (more or less), started drinking lots of water, stopped drinking coffee, stopped eating sweets, went to bed very early and tried to sleep a long time. I didn't go to partys anymore and stopped all friendship because it was horrible to live with my dry eyes.

I investigated on the internet for 7 years what I can do to get normal eyes again. I found out that there's the possibility to do meibom gland probing and my eyes were broken enough so I decided to see a doctor in Heidelberg, Germany, who I found on the internet. Fortunately, this doctor does not do probing but has a system LipiFlow from TearScience which could open the clogged glands. I didn't know about LipFlow at that time. He was the first doctor who could tell my with LipiView that nearly all my glands were closed and this was the reason for my severe dry eyes. Besides, he told me that my glands looked pretty good, all of them produced enough oil. So he offered me to do LipiFlow for 1100€ for both eyes and I accepted.

My LipiFlow treatment was done nearly 1 month ago now, 3 weeks after the treatment I went to the doctor again and he told me that on one eye, only 2 glands were not open. This is a very good result. All the other glands are open now and they are producing lots of oil. If I take a look in the mirror very closely I can see the oil on my lids! When I blink I can feel the tears in my eyes. My eyes have become whiter again and the veins left and right to the pupil aren't that visible as before LipiFlow. I stopped doing lid hygiene 2 weeks ago and I don't see any need to do it again. I only need to drop in max. 2 eye drops per eye a day. This is very low because before LipiFlow I could drop in 1 eye drop every 10 minutes and my eyes still felt dry and burned.

I can say that my meibom gland disfunction has healed. I hope that it will last forever and that I don't have to repeat LipiFlow. But due to the fact that my disfunction has been caused by an acne medicine (which is my opinion) and not caused by old age, I think that I don't have to repeat it so early.

Of course I don't expect miracles. My eyes have been dry since 7 years now and so they will never be normal. But I can live with this condition now.

Regards, DeyDey89

Hey deydey

Your story is quite similar to mine; If you want you can read my post regarding my experience of dry eyes and the lipiflow

[Mazza818]

That is crazy. I've heard it is about $1500 here in Australia. Taking advantage of desperate dry eye sufferers. I know the equipment is expensive however the prices being charged are way over the top. Only the rich can afford this treatment.

In Melbourne I got lipiflow done for $2100. very expensive indeed

[pattyleo]

Hi Mazza, how did it work for you? Did you notice much improvement in you MGD? The lipid oil my glands are producing is very thick and white, like mucus hence why my glands got clogged/ blocked and i ended up with a couple of chalazion. Lipiflow doesn't improve the quality of the meibum so in my case I don't really see the point. IPL is an option but it is still $600 for three treatments.

[FMel]

Hello everyone, first of all I'd like to apologise if my English is not perfect but I'm Italian, I hope I'll be able to explain myself.
I hope also you will not get bored reading all this story, but I really need help.

I am a guy aged 23 and one year ago I started having eye problems.
As a child I brought the glasses, I was astigmatic, but my problem went improving enough, year by year, so that now I no longer need them.
Anyway, the real hell began last year.

In the spring I began to have the EYE AREA (lids and eye contour) VERY FLUSHED, and within a few days the redness began to become an itchy sensation inside. I noticed some kind of FILAMENTS creating on the ocular surface. The feeling was that of a continuous itching, and the only scratching gave me relief (worsening the situation around the eyes, more and more red). I went to my ophthalmologist and I was told that I had a blepharitis, she prescribed me one antibiotic and one anti-allergic eyewash, to be taken together. I noticed that the antibiotic eye drops reduced the production of these filaments, while the antiallergic seemed to me doing anything. After a couple of weeks I went back to the doctor and I was told that the problem had disappeared, with a reduced production of these filaments. But the problem was still there, and with the arrival of summer, I decided to continue using the Betabioptal (antibiotic eye drops with chloramphenicol and betamethasone). The ITCHY SENSATION in my eyes remained, but smaller, and the filaments produced were concentrated in the corner of the eye (the one close to the nose). The eye, once I got tanned, remained red, but you could not notice that.
I then spent the summer quite well, using, not with a specific criteria, the betabioptal about once a day.


The summer was over, and once I was not tanned anymore, I started to see the eye area problem back (some mornings when I got up I looked like a heroin addict), so I decided to go to a SECOND EYE SPECIALIST. This doctor, after having blamed me for the use of cortisone for such a long period of time, measured my eye pressure (found regular) and prescribed me other drops, this time without cortisone. Needless to say that as soon as I stopped the use of cortisone, the problem became worse, despite this eye doctor told me that it was nothing serious and that, with the use of these eye drops, I was almost healed.

Winter came and the filaments, which meanwhile my eyes were producing continuously, became hard, giving me a terrible feeling under the eyelids, so as to force me to stay in the bathroom even an hour to try to remove them. It became a HELL. The eye and eyelids were always red, like a heroin addict, eyes began to alternate moments of excessive tearing in drying times, while the production of these filaments continued.
The first thought when I got in any place was going to the bathroom, to remove the filaments and control the redness of the eyes. The nightmare was even worse when playing football or doing sports: finished playing the redness becomes terrible, both eyes have broken capillaries and I look like a panda, with two red spots instead of eyes.

I did allergy testing and found an ALLERGY, light, to a tree called parietaria, but I do not have any other allergic symptom.

So I went to a THIRD EYE DOCTOR, who prescribed me a cure encompassing everything:
-TETRACICLINE EYEWASH, to eradicate any Demodex, proved useless
-ANTIALLERGIC EYEWASH KETOFTIL, which to me seems to do nothing
-BASSADO, An ORAL ANTIBIOTIC, which produced strong side effects; anyway, I used it for 20 days, did nothing.
-CORTISONE EYEWASH, which, in my case, are the only really functioning therapy.

With CORTISONE the overproduction of the Meibomian glands stops, the tearing is normal, and I do not alternate continuous dry / massive tear phases, with the continuous production of these filaments.
It's clear that the cortisone eyewash is a temporary cure, and can not be used as a definitive therapy.
I began to also use a SHAMPOO for the periocular hygiene and I noticed that, during washing, some kind of SEBUM CONGLOMERATES come off from under the upper eyelids.

The symptoms were not improving, so I went to a FOURTH OPHTHALMOLOGIST, considered an expert of the eyelid.
He confirmed to me a dysfunction of the Meibomian glands, not serious (I assure you that my life has deteriorated so much in the last year), with a posterior blepharitis. He told me to stop the use of eye washes, except for the anti-allergic.
He prescribed me:
-WARM COMPRESSES every evening for ten minutes
-EYE LASH CLEANING WITH A OPHTHALMIC GAUZE
-ARTIFICIAL EYEDROPS 4-5 TIMES A DAY
-OMEGA 3-6

With this new therapy eyes give me less hassle during the day (I have no sensation of a foreign body) but continue to produce these filaments, during washing, in large quantities. Today, when I was back home, I went in front of the mirror, I massaged my eyes and two yellow conglomerates fell down.
After doing the washings, eyes feel very tired and begin to shed tears at random, alternating dry phases.

It's something terrible, really. I started to get annoyed even in front of the light in the morning (sometimes, not always, and I do not understand the cause of that) and I see no solution to this problem.

Overall, I tried 10-15 eye drops, antibiotics and anti-allergic, in one year, with no results. The eyelids (just close to the lashes) are red, when I feel an itchy sensation inside my eyes suddenly the counter become red (wtf?).
I started to do a lot of research on the Internet, in Italian we have very little information, and I found this forum.




I'd really like if some of you guys could give me some tips, also regarding LIPIFLOW. CAN IT BE A SOLUTION?

This doctor told me about this chance, but, looking on the Internet, I found very conflicting opinions. It would be great if someone tried it and could gave me advice, perhaps in a similar condition: I have read there are different kind of MGD, in my case there is an OVERPRODUCTION OF OIL, apparently no-sense and poor quality.


I really hope someone could help me.
Thanks for reading

[FMel]

Hello everyone, first of all I'd like to apologise if my English is not perfect but I'm Italian, I hope I'll be able to explain myself.
I hope also you will not get bored reading all this story, but I really need help.

I am a guy aged 23 and one year ago I started having eye problems.
As a child I brought the glasses, I was astigmatic, but my problem went improving enough, year by year, so that now I no longer need them.
Anyway, the real hell began last year.

In the spring I began to have the EYE AREA (lids and eye contour) VERY FLUSHED, and within a few days the redness began to become an itchy sensation inside. I noticed some kind of FILAMENTS creating on the ocular surface. The feeling was that of a continuous itching, and the only scratching gave me relief (worsening the situation around the eyes, more and more red). I went to my ophthalmologist and I was told that I had a blepharitis, she prescribed me one antibiotic and one anti-allergic eyewash, to be taken together. I noticed that the antibiotic eye drops reduced the production of these filaments, while the antiallergic seemed to me doing anything. After a couple of weeks I went back to the doctor and I was told that the problem had disappeared, with a reduced production of these filaments. But the problem was still there, and with the arrival of summer, I decided to continue using the Betabioptal (antibiotic eye drops with chloramphenicol and betamethasone). The ITCHY SENSATION in my eyes remained, but smaller, and the filaments produced were concentrated in the corner of the eye (the one close to the nose). The eye, once I got tanned, remained red, but you could not notice that.
I then spent the summer quite well, using, not with a specific criteria, the betabioptal about once a day.


The summer was over, and once I was not tanned anymore, I started to see the eye area problem back (some mornings when I got up I looked like a heroin addict), so I decided to go to a SECOND EYE SPECIALIST. This doctor, after having blamed me for the use of cortisone for such a long period of time, measured my eye pressure (found regular) and prescribed me other drops, this time without cortisone. Needless to say that as soon as I stopped the use of cortisone, the problem became worse, despite this eye doctor told me that it was nothing serious and that, with the use of these eye drops, I was almost healed.

Winter came and the filaments, which meanwhile my eyes were producing continuously, became hard, giving me a terrible feeling under the eyelids, so as to force me to stay in the bathroom even an hour to try to remove them. It became a HELL. The eye and eyelids were always red, like a heroin addict, eyes began to alternate moments of excessive tearing in drying times, while the production of these filaments continued.
The first thought when I got in any place was going to the bathroom, to remove the filaments and control the redness of the eyes. The nightmare was even worse when playing football or doing sports: finished playing the redness becomes terrible, both eyes have broken capillaries and I look like a panda, with two red spots instead of eyes.

I did allergy testing and found an ALLERGY, light, to a tree called parietaria, but I do not have any other allergic symptom.

So I went to a THIRD EYE DOCTOR, who prescribed me a cure encompassing everything:
-TETRACICLINE EYEWASH, to eradicate any Demodex, proved useless
-ANTIALLERGIC EYEWASH KETOFTIL, which to me seems to do nothing
-BASSADO, An ORAL ANTIBIOTIC, which produced strong side effects; anyway, I used it for 20 days, did nothing.
-CORTISONE EYEWASH, which, in my case, are the only really functioning therapy.

With CORTISONE the overproduction of the Meibomian glands stops, the tearing is normal, and I do not alternate continuous dry / massive tear phases, with the continuous production of these filaments.
It's clear that the cortisone eyewash is a temporary cure, and can not be used as a definitive therapy.
I began to also use a SHAMPOO for the periocular hygiene and I noticed that, during washing, some kind of SEBUM CONGLOMERATES come off from under the upper eyelids.

The symptoms were not improving, so I went to a FOURTH OPHTHALMOLOGIST, considered an expert of the eyelid.
He confirmed to me a dysfunction of the Meibomian glands, not serious (I assure you that my life has deteriorated so much in the last year), with a posterior blepharitis. He told me to stop the use of eye washes, except for the anti-allergic.
He prescribed me:
-WARM COMPRESSES every evening for ten minutes
-EYE LASH CLEANING WITH A OPHTHALMIC GAUZE
-ARTIFICIAL EYEDROPS 4-5 TIMES A DAY
-OMEGA 3-6

With this new therapy eyes give me less hassle during the day (I have no sensation of a foreign body) but continue to produce these filaments, during washing, in large quantities. Today, when I was back home, I went in front of the mirror, I massaged my eyes and two yellow conglomerates fell down.
After doing the washings, eyes feel very tired and begin to shed tears at random, alternating dry phases.

It's something terrible, really. I started to get annoyed even in front of the light in the morning (sometimes, not always, and I do not understand the cause of that) and I see no solution to this problem.

Overall, I tried 10-15 eye drops, antibiotics and anti-allergic, in one year, with no results. The eyelids (just close to the lashes) are red, when I feel an itchy sensation inside my eyes suddenly the counter become red (wtf?).
I started to do a lot of research on the Internet, in Italian we have very little information, and I found this forum.




I'd really like if some of you guys could give me some tips, also regarding LIPIFLOW. CAN IT BE A SOLUTION?

This doctor told me about this chance, but, looking on the Internet, I found very conflicting opinions. It would be great if someone tried it and could gave me advice, perhaps in a similar condition: I have read there are different kind of MGD, in my case there is an OVERPRODUCTION OF OIL, apparently no-sense and poor quality.


I really hope someone could help me.
Thanks for reading

[Mazza818]

Hi all

I had a lipiflow treatment done at Collins St Opto in Melbourne today I will keep you guys posted about the result. I have been told that I might not get a result immediately but I should expect to see good results after 3/4 weeks post treatment of lipiflow.
I have also been advised to use warm pads over my eyelids and massage the eyelids twice daily, which is going to be a challenge, specially if you have to do it twice.

Background info to my dry eyes:

It all started about 6/7 years ago when I was taking accutane for acne. The doctors belief there may be a link to issue; I CERTAINLY think the drug is to blame.

I will do another post in 4/5 weeks from now. I hope it works for the sake of us all dry eye sufferers.
Good day

ACCUTANE INDUCED MGD.

[Mazza818]

Thank you Mazza818 for posting your results! I had Lipiflow done a few days ago and I am hoping to have the same results as you. I am also doing the warm compresses and fish oil, plus Omega 3s.

Did you by chance have a sticky feeling in your eyes after a few days after Lipiflow? I'm finding I'm waking up seeing oil around my eyes, but it is a bit thick and sticky. I am hoping this goes away and things normalize in a few weeks.

Hi there,

No I didnt experience that after lipiflow. however I was experiencing minor stickiness prior to treatment that was due to moderate to severe dryness. my blinks would feel little sticky at time, not all the times. hope yours goes away soon

[Mazza818]

Hi all
This post is now 2 months post Lipiflow.

Had a review appointment with my doctor; the glands that were opened using lipiflow and manual compression by the doctor, some were blocked again. that tells me that once the glands dont function properly they never will. in other words if its accutane induced glands dysfucntion it probably never will function right.

its quite sad and disappointing for me. i was hoping that once my glands were opened it would stay open if i did daily warm compresses; but in my case it wasnt the case. some glands clogged up.

thank you everyone.

[dryeyeblues]

Thanks for sharing. I have MGD and my first Lipiflow scheduled this Tuesday.
Matthew
www.lasikdryeyeblues.com

[BMR777]

Hi Everyone,

I just had Lipiflow yesterday and today my eyes feel worse. They feel more dry than usual and very sticky. Yesterday when I had the Lipiflow for a few hours after I felt wonderful, there was a lot of oil for the first time in a long time. Today they feel grittier than usual and very sticky. Is it normal with the Lipiflow to feel worse after the procedure? I was not given steroid drops or anything after the procedure like I have heard some people get afterwords.

Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks!

[Mazza818]

Thank you Alley and Savino. My eyes are feeling better today than yesterday, back to where they were pre-Lipiflow at least. Time will tell if they get better.

may i know where you got the treatment?

[BMR777]

may i know where you got the treatment?

Yeah, I got it done at Geneva Eye Clinic in Geneva, IL about an hour outside of Chicago. It was $400 USD per eye.

[SirJoker]

Hi,

as some people said before. Don't get afraid of that. My friend get through this procedure and he had felt the same thing. The doctor, however, told him that it's normal. But it won't hurt to ask the doctor if he can't help you somehow.

[Spoon]

Does anyone have one or more of the disposable Lipiflow activators (part that goes in the eye) that they took home from their treatment? If so please private message me if you would sell it to me. Thanks

[JJdryeye]

I'm thinking of having Lipiflow done, and I've read that many doctors are performing Lid margin debridement prior to Lipiflow. I'm guessing most are just following Dr. Korb's lead on this. Does anyone have any insight into the importance of the doing the debridement vs. not? I've seen Dr. Korb's publication on this, but I was hoping someone here might have additional insight. The doctors near me don't seem to offer debridement, so I'm trying to decide if it makes that big of a difference to justify travel time and extra costs.

[Spoon]

Hi JJ

I would put lid margin debridement at 'moderately helpful' pre Lipiflow but it really depends on the state of your lids and how long your meibomian glands have been blocked for. If you have a significant build up of dead skin cells or hardened meibum covering the meibomian gland orifices (tiny holes where the oil comes out on the lid margin) then debridement with a gold club spud can help clear this part of the blockage to make it easier for Lipiflow to heat and squeeze out blockages deeper in the glands, increasing the chance that Lipiflow will be able to express more of your glands as there is less resistance to do so.

The main benefit of debridement is in addressing lid wiper epitheliopathy which does not actually directly improve the results from Lipiflow, other than the fact that it improves the lid wiper reducing the mechanical trauma from LWE & the inflammation situation overall. This can help given how things are linked. I debride my own lids about once a fortnight before manual expression using a gold club spud and a 20x mirror and it does help significantly, in both smoothing the lid wiper and releasing a small number of glands that actually have liquid oil in them but are just capped at the orifice. However unfortunately most of my glands are blocked deeper down.

I think that you can get a lot of the benefit that a in office debridement procedure provides by gently scrubbing the lid margin yourself with warm saline on a q-tip. Ensure that the water is not too hot - for example by wetting a q-tip and touching it on your skin first before dipping another one to use on the lid. If you do this 3 or 4 times before the Lipiflow it should give you most of benefit that in office (most likely with golf club spud) would provide.. The in office debridement with a golf club spud is actually quite a gentle process - the edge of the instrument should glide along the lid margin and at no point draw blood.

Hope it goes well for you

[JJdryeye]

Hi JJ

I would put lid margin debridement at 'moderately helpful' pre Lipiflow but it really depends on the state of your lids and how long your meibomian glands have been blocked for. If you have a significant build up of dead skin cells or hardened meibum covering the meibomian gland orifices (tiny holes where the oil comes out on the lid margin) then debridement with a gold club spud can help clear this part of the blockage to make it easier for Lipiflow to heat and squeeze out blockages deeper in the glands, increasing the chance that Lipiflow will be able to express more of your glands as there is less resistance to do so.

The main benefit of debridement is in addressing lid wiper epitheliopathy which does not actually directly improve the results from Lipiflow, other than the fact that it improves the lid wiper reducing the mechanical trauma from LWE & the inflammation situation overall. This can help given how things are linked. I debride my own lids about once a fortnight before manual expression using a gold club spud and a 20x mirror and it does help significantly, in both smoothing the lid wiper and releasing a small number of glands that actually have liquid oil in them but are just capped at the orifice. However unfortunately most of my glands are blocked deeper down.

I think that you can get a lot of the benefit that a in office debridement procedure provides by gently scrubbing the lid margin yourself with warm saline on a q-tip. Ensure that the water is not too hot - for example by wetting a q-tip and touching it on your skin first before dipping another one to use on the lid. If you do this 3 or 4 times before the Lipiflow it should give you most of benefit that in office (most likely with golf club spud) would provide.. The in office debridement with a golf club spud is actually quite a gentle process - the edge of the instrument should glide along the lid margin and at no point draw blood.

Hope it goes well for you

Spoon,

Thanks for your reply. I'm curious, you seem to be fairly well versed in this subject, where did you obtain this information on the q-tip method? Dr. Latkany uses this as part of his Home eye spa treatment, but as a way of cleansing the eyelid after heat and massage. Did a doctor say this was a good replacement? Not doubting you or anything, I just always like to know my source when I try something new.

After contacting about 20 offices that perform Lipiflow, I'm finding that at least half (probably more like 60-70%) are including lid margin debridement in the Lipiflow procedure/price. And some are using Blephex to exfoliate the lid margin instead of the spud instrument. Blephex appears to be more aggressive than the spud, so I'd be curious to know if anyone here as an opinion on that. I'm guessing many doctors are following Dr. Korb's lead on the debridement, but I suspect they are getting better results for so many doctors to be including it.

I would also add that I was pleasantly suprrised to find that the cost of Lipiflow is coming down signicantly, you just have to do some leg work and call around.

[dryeyeblues]

Hey Y'all. I had my first Lipiflow a few hours ago. I don't feel relief (yet), but I'm hopeful it will help. I captured my experience with video, pictures in the office and a blog.

http://www.lasikdryeyeblues.com/dry-eye-blog

Thanks
Matthew

[dryeyeblues]

Or here http://www.lasikdryeyeblues.com/dry-...some-harmonica

[Angela810]

Very happy to hear you had a good outcome - gives me hope. Sounds like you are making a good recovery from your surgery. Well done

[dryeyeblues]

Hi checking in Day 7 post Lipiflow. It has helped a lot (still have to use drops), but less. I've created a couple new blogs on using Systane, various other drops, and serum drops here: http://www.lasikdryeyeblues.com/dry-eye-blog

[JJdryeye]

I'm hoping either a doctor here or a patient who's had Lipiflow can help me out here. From what I understand, some doctors, including Dr. Korb, are performing manual gland expression immediately following Lipiflow. I'm wondering how important this is, and for those doctors who do it, is it something you do for every Lipiflow patient, or case by case?

[DocwithDryEye]

In my experience, I have found that sometimes (not always), I can still express some meibum immediately after the procedure. In my opinion, everyone has different eye anatomy, and every eye doesn't grip the activator in the same way. Those eyes that do grip well rarely have anything else come out after the procedure. Many eyes, however, do. I feel that the activator is FANTASTIC at melting meibum to correct temps to express, and that by manually expressing every patient that has the procedure, we will get the best outcome. Blink exercises, fish oil, warm compress, lid hygiene, water consumption, lid taping if have nocturanal lagophthalmous all vital afterward.

[mbperso]

Hello,
I had Lipiflow 5 weeks ago and no relief right now.

History and status:
I was diagnosed last year, late, blepharis posterior with MGD, LLT=47, no AD.
I've started having symptom 4 years ago that was irritation and foreign body sensation every year for 1 months then symptom disappeared and
none of the 7 doctors I visited was able to diagnose the MGD. So time is up and I've lost some of my glands.
Lipiview showed 100% of partial blinking. I work on computer.
I was prescribed: 3 months course of Azyter drops + heat and massage + eyewash solution
After a few months doing this treatment I felt normal. No need drops.
Doctor said MGs are expressible, the oil was good, just a little thick, so I forgot the treatment for a few months.

Problem now:
One day because of a blow of wind I felt a sharp pain in one eye on the top lid for 2 hours and since this event, I've again had a foreign body sensation.
This pain lasts for 6 months. Usually it went away after 2 months.
My doctor said he cannot see anything into the eye.
So I was prescribed a 6 week course of Doxycycline and the pain decreased about 50% but no more.

LIPIFLOW
Then I decided to have Lipiflow and treatment post Lipiflow was:
-TobraDex for 3 weeks
-Sterdex ointment for 2 weeks
-Continue to use Heat + massage once a day
-eyewash solution after the massage
-Blinking exercises
-NO Lid hygiene has been prescribed.

First 3 weeks after Lipiflow were worse and bad : my eyes felt drier, tingle, lot of itching on lids margin, and very dry the night.
Doctor said it is normal because the glands are empties, they need time to produce oil again. It could take 1 or 2 months to feel relief.
After 5 weeks: drier and the foreign body sensation is still there. Heat + massage makes me feel well but a few minutes.

Does anyone have an idea about what could have happened after the blow of wind and why foreign body sensation is still there ?
What I could try to feel better?
Any comment is welcome.

Thanks a lot

[hannahmaywils]

Hi there,

My name's Hannah. I am a member of this forum. 24 year old female with dry eyes

I have had my lower tear ducts cauterised, and have punctual plugs in my upper tear ducts. I take omega 3, tumerin, vitamin D and flaxseed capsules daily.

My question is about Lipiflow? Is it worth it ? Does it make a significant improvement? I am based in the UK and I know of a few clinics that do the procedure in Manchester. I would be willing to pay for this treatment twice a year if it made such an improvement. Its hard to find a bad review on the web though! My eye specialist says he sees a lot of lipiflow patients, and the majority of them have no improvement

I would be grateful for anyone's thoughts

Thanks

[Dryeyekami]

Good afternoon all. I'm a newbie here....Dry eye symptoms started a few months ago and have gotten worse. I'm unable to work at the moment due to the constant pain. Apparently I have mgd but didn't think the pain could be so intense! So...Long story short, I've booked in for a lipiflow assessment next week in Manchester. Not sure what to expect or what other people's experiences have been. I'd really appreciate any feedback!

Kami

[Dryeyekami]

The question then is ....What do I have? Can dry eyes be a symptom of an eye allergy?

[Hokucat]

There are many posts in this forum about allergies and dry eyes...try doing a search on that. Happened to see this article someone shared that seems to confirm that relationship:

http://www.ophthalmologymanagement.c...sting-pays-off

Perhaps the papillae on your eyelids is compromising the ability of your lids to close properly and sweep the oils from your glands over the eyes, like they normally would. Either way, seems you might want to address the allergies theory first.

[Dryeyekami]

Hi hoku

That's what I think too. Allergy and dry eye mimic symptoms so all very confusing especially when I'm now being told my glands are fine and working compared to a couple of weeks ago when I was told I had mgd....

So I'm assuming allergy can cause your eyes to feel dry and irritated too.