Warm Vs Cold Compress

[Evan1]

What is the difference between warm and cold compresses, in terms of what symptoms they help with?

I have sebhorriec blepharitis, with meibomian glands not producing enough oil, and slightly thick oil. My eye doc told me to use cold compresses if I feel burning after computer use. I'm guessing that cold compress is for inflammation?

I've seen others with other kinds of blepharitis talking about warm compresses. Is warm for unclogging meibomian glands?

[BigNate]

Evan,

The warm vs. cold compress issue, I have been told, is a dilemma. When doing a warm one, you are going to make the oil thinner and in theory they will get to your eyes and offer your relief. However, heat causes inflammation. Therefore, there's a chance that the oil might not get out. You could do a cold compress for the inflammation but then again, that may thicken the oil. There's no good answer to this unless your problem is 100% due to inflammation or 100% due to having too thick of oil...in theory. This is what I have read and asked doctors about. Hopefully someone can correct me if I am wrong with any of it.

I have two questions for you:

1. Can you personally see dandruff on your eyelashes? (My doctor has said she did on mine but I can never see any dandruff)
2. Did you ever get prescription goggles like you had mentioned a couple of weeks ago? (I was thinking about trying that route and was looking for any feedback from anyone)

Thanks!

[Rebecca Petris]

BigNate, agree generally, except the potential for incompatibility which I keep suspecting is just vague speculation that's been floated around the internet

Heat's all about loosening up thickened oil secretions so that they can be pressed out with massage to allow the glands to do their job (till it gets clogged up again). Works well for a lot of people with chronically poor quality secretions.

Cold's all about pain management and/or helping with eyelid inflammation and/or eyelid/eye redness.

So while a lot of people use whatever compress suits their fancy, personally I think of heat as a medical thing and cold as a feelgood thing.

Regarding hot and cold: I've seen a lot of casual mentions of concern about cold reversing the benefits of warm compresses BUT I've never heard/seen any actual evidence or any medical explanation explaining how cold compresses could reverse any positive effects of warm compresses. Just thinking of the pure mechanics of it... seems to me that once the cat's out of the bag (a thick plug, in this case) I don't think it goes back in that fast or that easily... it wasn't cold, after all, that clogged it up in the first place. I've asked several times on the board if anybody's come across anything firm and if someone's posted it I haven't seen it so if I'm just missing it please somebody post a link

Re: heat and inflammation - just want to clarify that there's inflammation and there's inflammation. That is, if we're plying hot stuff on our lids for lengthy periods of time, yup, those lids are probably gonna be puffier, redder, more irritated and none of us wants that though some people who have super stubborn MGD that responds to nothing else are OK with the tradeoff. But I *think* that effect is quite distinct from the inflammatory process underlying MGD in the first place at the back of the glands. Whether it can/does make any of *that* worse, I dunno....

[patientpatrick]

I have MGD and have been doing the Latkany Eye Spa with hot compress, lid massage, gland expression, and rinsing daily.

Recently, I've seen a cornea specialist who put me on a regiment of hot compressing for 15 min at least 3X a day. I wonder if that is too much though. I've noticed the skin around my eyes have been chapping and cracking, and it has gotten darker. I don't do cold compresses because I'm trying to get the oil flowing better.

I'm still confused as to whether the hot compresses are causing inflammation and hurting my eyes more than they are helping
Anyone have similar experiences?

P

[Evan1]

Great discussion you guys. And Rebecca, that makes a lot of sense to me.

Upon further reflection after reading this, it seems that inflammation caused by heat is it's not the kind of inflammation caused by your body as an immune response. The heat would do it's job of loosening things up, then any inflammation it caused would go away as it cools back down. Any chronic inflammation would probably remain. Basically I'm just paraphrasing Rebecca there.

I have inflammation of the joints, especially in my fingers. My rheumatologists have always told me to soak my hands in warm water for 10 minutes, and massage the joints. Fingers are different than eyes, but I'm thinking the same principle applies.

Anyway, would be great to hear more experiences and opinions from others.

@Nate:

1) Eye lash dandruff: I also cannot see any eye lash dandruff, but doc says it's there. Will def ask him why he sees it and I don't next time. Maybe the dandruff is only visible when they look through one of their fancy machines. He also said there is a "sleeve" around the eyelash follicle.

2) Goggles: I haven't tried any eye wear since returning the gator goggles. But I did order Evader II Over-Rx from dry eye shop, and should be receiving them soon. I'll update the goggle thread when I try them out. Those I plan on wearing over my glasses when working at the computer. I also have my eye on the MEGs you mentioned in the goggle thread. Those I would wear in public, maybe. Also want WileyX or similar, but I don't think I can get them in Thailand, so will have to wait til I visit home to find a dealer.

@Patrick:

Maybe your compresses are too hot? I've read that warm is does the trick, with less skin damage.