please help! How long does it take?

[Jillian Basler]

Hi There,

I am hoping to get some help with this one? I have been doing
the warm compress/ lid cleaning and massage for many weeks now,
how long does it take to unclog the M Glands? The last time I went to the
Opthomologist she some some were opening up, but not all. The biggest
complaint that I have been left with is watery, stickey eyes. All of a sudden they will just fill with water. After I do the warm compresses my vision is
blurry for a short time. What a nightmare this has been... will
my eyes ever feel normal again???

Thanks
Jill

[dave25]

It took me around 6 months of warm compresses for my eyes to start feeling better and my glands to start working a little better. Hopefully it won't take you this long, but what really helped me cope with this was just saying to myself I will do this for as long as it takes until it gets better. Also, remember not to make your warm compress too hot and don't massage your eyes too hard. Like Dr. Latkany says if you don't do the routine properly you could do more harm than good. I hope this helps. Good luck.

[eva b]

Hi Jill,

as Dave says, you need patience. It took me several months to fully feel the benefit, but I did feel slight improvement after just a few weeks.

I wonder if you are doing the compresses for long enough? I do them for about 10 minutes twice a day, and really noticed the difference when I increased it to that from 5 mins.

The fact that your vision is blurry immediately after the compress and massage is a good sign it means the fluid has been loosened and is now flowing freely.

These days, after well over a year of compresses etc, I often see a film like you get when your glasses steam over immediately I've done my compresses...I get so excited about it I jump up and down

doesn't take much to get a dry-eye person excited...

[Jillian Basler]

More Questions

Hi,

Thank you Dave and Eva for your response. I have so many questions
as I struggle for what will work for me. What type of compresses to you
us and for how long. Do you only massage the eylids right after the
heat? Also how many times on each eye? I am doing the compresses twice
a day with warm/wet face cloth.

Thank you in advance,

Jill

[dave25]

I use Dr. Latkany's heating pad. A lot of people also use the rice baggy. (I haven't tried that one yet, but I'm sure I will at some point) Both of these items can be found at the Dry Eye shop. I used warm water scrubs for over 2 years and I have found that Dr. Latkany's heating pad works much better and is much more convenient than the washcloth method. I do the warm compress with the hearing pad for about 10 minutes 2 times a day. That seems to work good for me. You can actually do a gentle lid massage while the heating pad is on by just using your fingers and gently gliding them over your eyelids. There are many good techniques on here that people use, so you will just have to see which ones you like best. There is also a thread on this forum where people post their daily routines where you can find additional ideas to try. Hope this helps.

[Jillian Basler]

Thank you Dave...

[eva b]

Jillian,
my method is slightly different, in that I use a face cloth and hot water. I find that the moisture generated is an additional benefit for me, as do some other member of the forum.

What I do is boil a kettle, pour some of the water into a glass bowl and wait till it cools enough to dip in a facecloth folded into a wide strip, which will fit over both eyes together. Then place over eyes for a couple of minutes until it cools down, at which point I wring it out and add more hot water to the bowl, re-dip and re-apply.

I keep on for about 10-15 miinutes altogether. It's quite a performance, but you get used to it, specially if you're listening to the radio or some music while you do it, and the relief it brings certainly makes it worthwhile.

I massage both upper and lower lids immediately I've finished the compresses, and often get a blurrry cloud of fluid flowing over the eyeball these days, which gives a wonderful sense of achievement

You'll find in the dry eye community it doesn't take much to get us excited!

[dianat]

Jillian,

I just finally read Dr. Latkany's book..The Dry Eye remedy. It explains quite well the techniques for unclogging the glands through heat, message, supplments and Restasis.

Diana

[Jillian Basler]

Thank you.....

[mflores22]

Just wanted to put in my two cents.

Is your opthamologist a dry eye specialist? Were you prescribed any doxycycline or steroid drops? Those can help kick start the process of unclogging those glands.

Also, and this is what has worked for me, not promising it will work for you, but BioTears seemed to help me a lot. I was doing the warm compress/lid scrubs for about two months, and it really felt like my improvement could be measured in baby steps. I started taking BioTears and about a week later my left eye wouldn't blur after using the heat compress. After a month of using the pills, my right eye was appreciably less blurry after the heat compress, to the point where some days there was no blur. (According to Dr. Latkany, the blur you see is the infected oil, so if there is no blur you are reversing the cycle of inflammation and clogging)

.....and now come the bitter people telling me that a supplement can't work for me because it didn't work for them......

But I digress, BioTears has lactoferrin, which is a anti-bacterial protein. My dry eye specialist seemed a bit hesitant to believe that the pills would help my blepharitis, but I know what I've experienced. Good luck, dry eye sucks.

[acarol]

Just wanted to put in my two cents.

Is your opthamologist a dry eye specialist? Were you prescribed any doxycycline or steroid drops? Those can help kick start the process of unclogging those glands.

Also, and this is what has worked for me, not promising it will work for you, but BioTears seemed to help me a lot. I was doing the warm compress/lid scrubs for about two months, and it really felt like my improvement could be measured in baby steps. I started taking BioTears and about a week later my left eye wouldn't blur after using the heat compress. After a month of using the pills, my right eye was appreciably less blurry after the heat compress, to the point where some days there was no blur. (According to Dr. Latkany, the blur you see is the infected oil, so if there is no blur you are reversing the cycle of inflammation and clogging)

.....and now come the bitter people telling me that a supplement can't work for me because it didn't work for them......

But I digress, BioTears has lactoferrin, which is a anti-bacterial protein. My dry eye specialist seemed a bit hesitant to believe that the pills would help my blepharitis, but I know what I've experienced. Good luck, dry eye sucks.

I've been told my oil glands are blocked - when i do the warm compresses, lid massaging and lid cleaning i don't get any BLUR like ye described - should i be getting this blur?

[brd888]

I've been told my oil glands are blocked - when i do the warm compresses, lid massaging and lid cleaning i don't get any BLUR like ye described - should i be getting this blur?

I suppose yes is the answer. Applying heat should release meibum which has been trapped - this excess meibum temporarily blurs vision.
However, I think this process is over-prescribed. I've been advised to use heat but I really don't have obviously blocked MGs. Are your MG's showing the classic white pimple signs? If not, I question what does heat do?

Heat seems to be advised to treat all dry eye patients but I question if it useful to any case other than white pimple style blocked meibomian glands.

Regards.

[acarol]

I suppose yes is the answer. Applying heat should release meibum which has been trapped - this excess meibum temporarily blurs vision.
However, I think this process is over-prescribed. I've been advised to use heat but I really don't have obviously blocked MGs. Are your MG's showing the classic white pimple signs? If not, I question what does heat do?

Heat seems to be advised to treat all dry eye patients but I question if it useful to any case other than white pimple style blocked meibomian glands.

Regards.

Ya i do get white pimples now and again and the Optician told me that there are quite a number of the glands blocked. I never get that blur though.