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Hi all - it was only about 1-2 months ago that I chaged my warm compress technique and I think the new technique has helped.
In my old system (prior to 1-2 months ago), I always would soak the wash cloth to make it warm/hot (not too hot) and then place it over my eyes. However, every time I placed it over my eyes, the cloth would mostly rest on my top lids.
In my new system, I alternate the wash cloth between my top lids and my bottom lids (about 1-2 minutes per lid with a little massaging during the process). Of course, the top lids get some indirect warmth when I focus on my bottom lids and visa versa.
After each round or two of doing both the top and bottom lids (about every 3-4 minutes), I stretch my eyelids sideways by pulling on the skin near my temples and then run my index finger from my nose to my ear along the eyelid margins (being very careful not to polk myself in the eye).
I mention the above process not so much so that everyone can follow what I am doing. The main reason I mention it is because it is easy to forget that the meibomian glands on our bottom lids are also very important and we should not just rest the warm wash cloth or rice baggy on our top lids for 5, 10, or 15 minutes and think that we are doing the full job of loosening the oils in the glands (i.e. in all 4 lids).
In my case, when I changed my technique, I noticed some good improvement in my meibomian function. Also, if you are going to use the index finger technique near the eye, I have two tips ... 1) have a steady hand so that you don't polk your eye (I'm doing well over the course of 1-2 months knock on wood) and 2) wash your hands well prior to the compresses.
My glands have improved to the point where I am now only doing compresses one time a day for 15 minutes. For my case, 15 minutes works well since I get some of the white stringy oil out between the 10-15 minute mark. Therefore, I wouldn't want to stop at 5-10 minutes since the non-liquified "stuff" would not come out.
BTW, I am not dry eye symptom free. Sometimes my eyes feel dry, other times they ache, and once in a while, I have pretty good periods of time. In the last month or so, it has been interesting to observe that when my eyes ache, they do not feel dry and when they are dry they don't ache. I wonder if the aching means that things are working better, but not in an optimal way
Anyway, this is a long post with a simple message ... don't forget to rest the warm washcloth or rice baggy on the bottom lids/meibomian glands once in a while. I think a little massaging action on the lids help the process as well. Best. YGB.
In my old system (prior to 1-2 months ago), I always would soak the wash cloth to make it warm/hot (not too hot) and then place it over my eyes. However, every time I placed it over my eyes, the cloth would mostly rest on my top lids.
In my new system, I alternate the wash cloth between my top lids and my bottom lids (about 1-2 minutes per lid with a little massaging during the process). Of course, the top lids get some indirect warmth when I focus on my bottom lids and visa versa.
After each round or two of doing both the top and bottom lids (about every 3-4 minutes), I stretch my eyelids sideways by pulling on the skin near my temples and then run my index finger from my nose to my ear along the eyelid margins (being very careful not to polk myself in the eye).
I mention the above process not so much so that everyone can follow what I am doing. The main reason I mention it is because it is easy to forget that the meibomian glands on our bottom lids are also very important and we should not just rest the warm wash cloth or rice baggy on our top lids for 5, 10, or 15 minutes and think that we are doing the full job of loosening the oils in the glands (i.e. in all 4 lids).
In my case, when I changed my technique, I noticed some good improvement in my meibomian function. Also, if you are going to use the index finger technique near the eye, I have two tips ... 1) have a steady hand so that you don't polk your eye (I'm doing well over the course of 1-2 months knock on wood) and 2) wash your hands well prior to the compresses.
My glands have improved to the point where I am now only doing compresses one time a day for 15 minutes. For my case, 15 minutes works well since I get some of the white stringy oil out between the 10-15 minute mark. Therefore, I wouldn't want to stop at 5-10 minutes since the non-liquified "stuff" would not come out.
BTW, I am not dry eye symptom free. Sometimes my eyes feel dry, other times they ache, and once in a while, I have pretty good periods of time. In the last month or so, it has been interesting to observe that when my eyes ache, they do not feel dry and when they are dry they don't ache. I wonder if the aching means that things are working better, but not in an optimal way
Anyway, this is a long post with a simple message ... don't forget to rest the warm washcloth or rice baggy on the bottom lids/meibomian glands once in a while. I think a little massaging action on the lids help the process as well. Best. YGB.
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