Blephasteam® is the first eyelid warming device

[Jenn1]

I'm helping my daughter find some Blephasteam goggles. I contacted James Sutton with Butterflies Healthcare and he responded that these goggles cannot be shipped to the US (we're in texas) because they are not FDA approved. Does anyone here know of a way to get a pair of these goggles in the US?

That is such a shame. It is not as though the blephasteam is dangerous in any way but I do wonder if anyone posted the item out and labelled it medical, if customs in the USA would confiscate it still? I've seen other eye heat massagers on Amazon for a good price though.

Anyone know if littlemermaid still uses these forums?

[deborahclare]

I'm helping my daughter find some Blephasteam goggles. I contacted James Sutton with Butterflies Healthcare and he responded that these goggles cannot be shipped to the US (we're in texas) because they are not FDA approved. Does anyone here know of a way to get a pair of these goggles in the US?

[Dog2012]

Boy ..just 10 min....Does it feel comfortable on your face on your face ..your face ..any over pressure ? ?

Dog,

I have been using the goggles for about 2 weeks. I like them because they are very easy to use. My symptoms have not improved long term, but they do give me about 10 minutes of relief after using them. I am going to stick with using them and hope for the best.
Good luck,
Bianca
(Jax was my first "baby", my beloved Australian shepherd that would eat anything!)

[jax8it]

Dog,

I have been using the goggles for about 2 weeks. I like them because they are very easy to use. My symptoms have not improved long term, but they do give me about 10 minutes of relief after using them. I am going to stick with using them and hope for the best.
Good luck,
Bianca
(Jax was my first "baby", my beloved Australian shepherd that would eat anything!)

[Dog2012]

Does he like it ?

Hi,

My husband bought these for me. he said that he had to pay a customs charge. He purchased the goggles via email. it took about 2 weeks to get them.

[Dog2012]

Very easy

Here is an info
Contact James Sutton MCOptom
Butterflies Healthcare Ltd
Tel: 0845 838 6704 or 0333 700 6704
Fax: 0845 838 6714
james@butterflies-healthcare.co.uk

Dear Dog, Lacrima & Jax,
I wanted to try these, but Spectrum Thea won't ship to states- How do you get the goggles?

[jax8it]

Hi,

My husband bought these for me. he said that he had to pay a customs charge. He purchased the goggles via email. it took about 2 weeks to get them.

[bunnyrabbit123]

Dear Dog, Lacrima & Jax,
I wanted to try these, but Spectrum Thea won't ship to states- How do you get the goggles?

[Dog2012]

Thank you !

[Lacrima]

Hi Dog2012

I don't experience sensitivity or discomfort with goggles applying pressure. It is less than swimming goggles, for example. You can adjust the tightness with the strap anyway. They will leave goggle marks around the eyes for some minutes, so you probably don't want to do the steam right before leaving the house.

[Dog2012]

Hi,
Here is what one user says below...did you find that Goggles put too much pressure around the eyes as well ?
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I would sit holding them not away from my face (they have to make a seal around the eyes), but just so that they didn't press in so tightly. So, overall, not comfortable or relaxing to use. I do have very sensitive, delicate skin though and I do mark easily - others probably wouldn't find this a problem

Hi,

I'm using this device every day and am very happy with it. I don't have enough experience with manual warm compresses- so I can't say if it's more effective for me. However, I occasionally do compresses using warm flannels/ rice baggies and they all make my eyeballs red. I like blephasteam because it doesn't make my eyes red- it heats the eyelids without pressure on the eyeball.

I often will steam a tiny bit longer than it says in the directions. I do this by putting the goggles on and then pressing 'start' after 2-3 min.

Littlemermaid- what are you using for cleaning the goggles at the moment? I use cleaning alcohol (95 degree)

[Lacrima]

Hi,

To me the goggles are similar to taking a hot shower, but like LM said you can't live in a shower. So thus far they have been very convenient. Lacrima, I am glad to hear you are seeing improvements. About how long after using the goggles did your symptoms start to improve?
Also, the instructions say to clean with the blue cloth that comes with it or an alcohol swab. Should I use something different to clean?
Thanks

Thank you, hope you have had improvements, too.

I can't remember exactly when my symptoms started to get better due to the goggles alone, because I started all my dry eye treatments at the same time (these included: doxy, restasis, omega 3). But between my initial diagnosis (where the doc suggested blephasteam) and follow up appointment two months later, I had improved significantly. My docs attribute a lot of my improvement to my daily blephasteam routine.

For cleaning- I prefer to use alcohol swabs when I can get them, otherwise cotton pads wetted with 95 degree alcohol. I make sure they are good quality, compacted type, so they don't come apart and leave strands of cotton on the goggles. You could use the blue cloth wetted with alcohol instead. I think this would be more appropriate according to the instructions.. but I found the cotton pads are ok as long as they are really good ones.

About once a month I wash the blephasteam bag with blue cloth inside, in the wash machine at 30 degrees with my clothes.

[jax8it]

Hi,

To me the goggles are similar to taking a hot shower, but like LM said you can't live in a shower. So thus far they have been very convenient. Lacrima, I am glad to hear you are seeing improvements. About how long after using the goggles did your symptoms start to improve?
Also, the instructions say to clean with the blue cloth that comes with it or an alcohol swab. Should I use something different to clean?
Thanks

[Lacrima]

Hi,

I'm using this device every day and am very happy with it. I don't have enough experience with manual warm compresses- so I can't say if it's more effective for me. However, I occasionally do compresses using warm flannels/ rice baggies and they all make my eyeballs red. I like blephasteam because it doesn't make my eyes red- it heats the eyelids without pressure on the eyeball.

I often will steam a tiny bit longer than it says in the directions. I do this by putting the goggles on and then pressing 'start' after 2-3 min.

Littlemermaid- what are you using for cleaning the goggles at the moment? I use cleaning alcohol (95 degree)

[littlemermaid]

No, you can't send it back for hygiene reasons. Yes, it is like using steam in the bathroom and we find a warm bath or shower more effective than the Blephasteam in lots of ways. But it's not always possible to have a warm bath or shower 2/day, plus we are dealing with face rosacea sensitive to detergents even tap water, and we have to do warm compress at minimum 1/day to keep the eyelid glands clean and functioning. I've talked to people who stop using Blephasteam because it 'doesn't work' in the same way medical treatments like probing or Lipiflow or IPL should, but it's been more a useful gadget for keeping things good on a regular basis.

So, talking a teenager here who skips the treatment if she's tired or stressed, Blephasteam has been useful because it's easy and a regular temperature and travels anywhere. It's also been handy and regular when she was younger, halfway between me doing warm compresses and her doing it herself under supervision. It took the aggravation on both sides away.

Cleaning the creases in the rubber goggles is a worry though, particularly because we are dealing with infected eye flareups, but I asked Butterflies Healthcare, the UK supplier, and they said use anything on the rubber and it's survived 1y so far. It is relaxing and convenient. We also use hot flannels and rice bags - we've had worries about hygiene, burning temperature, retaining enough heat long enough, and pressing on the eye inflammation. All these techniques, carefully managed, are just as good, I feel. It's about what makes life easier x