Do you guys like moist when heating your eyes?

[TRiBaL]

I was trying make my rice baggy more moist for when I use it on my eyes. But it doesn't seem quite as moist as a rag will ever be.

I try the cup in microwave, wet wash rag and rice baggy on top of it which didn't seem to work well enough for me. The rag couldn't stay warm long enough.
I try putting the rag over on top of the rag baggy in microwave but it still didn't feel like enough moisture.

It's just a hassle using wet washcloth like we all know but its best for moisture it seems.

I heard of themotears or whatever its call but never got to try it nor know if its moist enough for me still.

Any more ideas out there?

[stella]

Try steaming - It's really wet and soothing

[TRiBaL]

How do you perform steaming?

[stella]

How to steam

A bowl or jug (wide enough to cover your face,or half your face - must be upper half which includes your eyes)
A small towel
Boiling water
Fill the bowl/jug nearly to the top with boiling water
Bend over it - about a foot from the water thrn cover head and envelope bowl with the towel - making a kind of funnell with the towel which allows the steam to rise to your eyes. make sure there are no gaps for steam to escape
At that point keep eyes closed and take care you do not burn your face ( hense the suggestion you start a foot away from the steam)then you can lower your head gradually as it cools slightly and then half open your eyes (that way the lid margins get steamed as well as the closed lids ) Later i would completely open my eyes and steam the corneas when i think it is not too hot - be careful though
I do this for 5 minutes - by then my eyelids are prickly and itchy so i stop and jostle and pinch them -going along the closed margins with the back of my finger nail - big relief
I then steam some more
Then do the baby shampoo then rinse off the baby shampoo
Then do the pressure thing Dr Latkany style with a q tip all along the lid margins
Then rinse well with refrigerated artificial tears Pat dry withthe towl apply claramist spray put on my onion goggles and then to bed
Whole procedure takes 15 mins

[TRiBaL]

how do you perform the qtip along the lid margin. I was interested in doing that.

[stella]

Hard to describe - if you have Dr latkany's book theres a diagram showing exactly how to do it
However i'll try ----
Dip both ends of q tip in the boiled water and squeeze off excess water(you just need it damp)
stretch the eyelids of your L eye with your L hand until the lids are taught
with R hand take q tip and start with bottom lid press firmly along the lid as near to the margin of the eye as you can starting at the inner aspect of your eye and working out Do same with top lid using other end of q tip
Press all along the lid margin about 10 /12 times - be sure to press slightly upwards for the bottom lid and slightly downwards for top
AIM is to unblock the tiny openings /ducts which produce the oil
Repeat procedure with R eye and a different q tip
remember that the ducts /openings are inside the eye lashes but do be careful not to poke q tip in your eye
It takes a bit of practice
Dr Latkany claims it should only take 30 seconds and be done once daily

[NYer]

Don't use boiling water on your eye!

I just noticed this post and in the description above of how to use the Q-Tip, it says to dip the ends in the boiling water. But.....do NOT use boiling water on your eyelids!!!! Let the Q-Tips cool down to WARM. Not hot. You can simply run wet the Q-Tip (cotton bud for those in the UK) with warm water from the sink.

[stella]

Sorry - of course you cant use boiling water on the Q tip - It cools down in seconds so you are hardly likely to burn yourself,besides i did say boiled , not boiling
I think it is probably wiser to use boiled cooled water than unboiled tap water
Eye care is not a surgical wound procedure which requires absolute principles of sterility - but i would put it in the category of what we used to term a "surgically clean procedure"
This requires hand washing and apparatus kept seperately, and boiled water - I guess its all that nurses training that i got drummed into me !

[NYer]

You're right about using sterile water. I knew what you meant in your description but I just figured someone somewhere would mis-read it and, well, it's sort of like McDonalds having to say on their cups "Caution, coffee is hot"!

[HOSADOS]

Stella-more clarity about-"do the pressure thing Dr Latkany style"

A bowl
Then do the pressure thing Dr Latkany style with a q tip all along the lid margins

Is what you are saying is to position the Q-tip horizontal in parallel to the eyelid margin and the eye lashes ? and then to roll it upward toward eye lashes all the way up to the eye crack ?
And then to the pressure- how strong it ?

[NYer]

No, the Q-Tip should be perpendicular to the lid and there is no rolling involved. You're basically poking straight into the lid. Make sure you are very close to the lashes (just under on the bottom lashes and just above on the top lashes). If you're too far under or over, you'll notice that your lid and lashes sort of flip/curl out over the Q-Tip. That is not what you want.
Also, you don't have to pull your eye so far. Just a bit so the lid is more taut than normal.

[HOSADOS]

I developed techniques 2 squeeze the lid margin/scrub the inner side of the eyelashes

thanks, I develop a number of techniques which involved holding a q-tip in one hand horizontally, for instant take the bottom lid, holding the q-tip at the eye lashes area (external side) just bellow the eyelid margin, and then press it gently into the skin (it's ok to feel the eyeball), so you get the effect of the lid margin flip/curl over the q-tip. Now, with the other hand poke/press firmly the inner side of the lid margin toward the horizontal q-tips to squeeze the oil (I like to press it firmly and slide it up firmly to the the tip of the margin squeezing it tightly), you could raise the horizontal q-tips until you find the right position. Don't be afraid to squeeze it firmly, since when you have a very tiny skin area pressed between the two q-tips, pain is minimal if at all...You could also slide firmly the q-tips in the internal side of lid margin or near the tip of margin along the margin, while pressing it to the horizontal q-tips. I guess one picture worth a thousands words...but I hope you get the picture.

Similarly, this should be done in the upper eyelid, which is quite easy !

To make the effect even stronger, I some time soak the q-tip into boiled water. The heat evaporate quickly so the cotton tip is still warm but not too much.

The above technique, is also useful for the purpose of scrubbing and rinsing the internal side of the upper eyelashes, and the Meibomian glands as well as the lid margin. I usually, scrub with Bicarbonate (recently switched from Baby Shampoo) solution.
With other hand, I position the Q-tip in parallel to the upper lid margin/ eyelashes area horizontally
(external side) just above the eyelid margin, and then press it gently into the skin (it's ok to feel the eyeball), so you get the effect of the lid margin flip/curl over the q-tip. Now, you could easily scrub your eyelashes/lid margin/Meibomian glands with the other hand holding the soaked Q-tip.
For the bottom lid, I use my index finger to get the flip/curl effect. Afterward, I rinse the eyelashes/lid margin with water (you could use boiled water).
---------
Additionally, I take a q-tip and cut it to half or a third of its length. For instant let's take the upper eyelid this time. With one hand I pull sideways at the corner of the eye. Then, I position the Q-tip in parallel to the lid margin/ eyelashes area horizontally, and roll it down toward the lid margin and to the eye crack. The closer I get to the lid margin, I use more force when pressing into the eye (it's ok to feel the eyeball), and squeeze the lid margin tip.

[Rory]

Hard to describe - if you have Dr latkany's book theres a diagram showing exactly how to do it
However i'll try ----
Dip both ends of q tip in the boiled water and squeeze off excess water(you just need it damp)
stretch the eyelids of your L eye with your L hand until the lids are taught
with R hand take q tip and start with bottom lid press firmly along the lid as near to the margin of the eye as you can starting at the inner aspect of your eye and working out Do same with top lid using other end of q tip
Press all along the lid margin about 10 /12 times - be sure to press slightly upwards for the bottom lid and slightly downwards for top
AIM is to unblock the tiny openings /ducts which produce the oil
Repeat procedure with R eye and a different q tip
remember that the ducts /openings are inside the eye lashes but do be careful not to poke q tip in your eye
It takes a bit of practice
Dr Latkany claims it should only take 30 seconds and be done once daily

Stella do you feel it necessary to pull the upper lids to the side to get them taut or just the lower lids?

I currently just do this with the lower lids and feel that the Q tip can be applied to the upper lids without pulling them to the side?

[NYer]

Yes, you need to pull the upper lids, too. Not super taut, just taut.

[stella]

Rory - especially the upper lids need to be taut since they are "slacker" than the lower i find, but i am older than you so maybe thats why