questions regarding warm compresses and massage

[AdrianS]

Hi there:

My eye doctor recently told me to start warm compresses. Before my skin always looked great prior to the compress treatment regime, but now I have this red nose all the time! Does anyone have any pointers? Is this common?

Additionally, after the compresses, my right eye (the red eye) is very blurry. The left one (not as red) is always crystal clear. Is this indicative of anything?

I never can detect oil coming out of my glands or any discharge from my glands while doing the massage after the compresses.

I'm not sure how to interperet any of this. Any thoughts?

Thanks so much!
Adrian

[eva b]

Hi Adrian

I use compresses regularly (up to 4 times a day when things are bad) and have a similar reaction to you...local redness. This is because the heat of the compress draws blood to the local area and makes it look as if you've been sitting in the sun. Mine usually subsides within half an hour or so...maybe you're doing the compresses too hot? they should not be uncomfortably hot.

As for the blurring, this is a good sign! It means that some of the solidified meibomian fluid has melted (which is the whole purpose of the warm compress),and temporarily coats the tear film which makes things look blurry - but this also should clear within a few minutes.

The fact that you notice it more in one eye than the other, I think, means simply that more glands are blocked in one eye than in the other - I have the same thing, and it's very common that one eye is worse.

Hope this explains things a little for you.

Keep up the good work!

[AdrianS]

Thanks Eva!

Thanks for your support, Eva. My fear about the red nose it this... my fourth eye doctor since July diagnosed me with ocular rosacae. Now I am afraid that they are correct in their diagnosis (I had three completely different diagnosis over the summer for my eye redness - so I assumed it was just another shot in the dark.) i'm worried that the compresses are triggering rosacea of the face... I never had red nose before and it is lasting throughout the day...

What do you think?

As far as the no foggyness in the second eye after the compress, do you think that means that there is no clogged MG?

Thanks so much!

[NYer]

Yes, the hot compresses are a trigger for your facial rosacea. If your nose/facial skin gets red that readily, you can be sure that you have rosacea. It's not a big deal. Some people with rosacea just get red easily (I do). Most people with rosacea don't get much more than that - it's not common to have that really bad rosacea like W.C. Fields had, so stop worrying.

Anyway, the odds are very high that if you have ocular rosacea, you do have facial rosacea. Virtually everyone who has one has the other. (I suggest that you do a search on this site under "rosacea" and read all the posts - especially some by Dr. Latkany).

So all that said, you are making your compresses too hot. Make them very warm...not hot. And only keep them on your eyes for less than two minutes total. The heat aggravates ocular rosacea. We should not do the hot compresses either as hot or as long as people who don't have rosacea.

And you may want to try doing one eye at a time - that way the compress won't be draped across your nose and cheeks. Just make it big enough to cover the one eye, do your massages on that eye and then re-warm it, put it on your other eye and then do the massages on that eye. That'll keep your nose from getting red, Rudolph.

No, not having fogginess in your other eye doesn't mean you don't have MGD in that eye. You most likely have it in both but one is probably just worse.

[AdrianS]

Thanks everyone. NYer, I hope you are right. The internet is full of scary rosacea stories. Its bad enough to be single with red veins in your eyes, with thick glasses. I pray that if I have rosacea, I'll only ever be a little red.

[NYer]

Yeah, well, would you find it more interesting to look a picture of a horribly disfigured face or of a normal person with a little pinkness in their cheeks? They're showing you the extreme cases. Stop worrying.

I blush easily, so that's considered cute. When I exercise (which is rare) my face gets red and I look like I was outside in the cold. For that matter, when I'm outside in the cold, my cheeks get very pink. And that's a trigger for me. So is laying out in the sun. My cheeks and chin break out. That's one of the issues from rosacea. So I went on birth control pills and now I don't break out. My ocular rosaea is better since the BC pills, too, but my dry eye isn't any better.

My point is that rosacea is extremely common and tons of people with fair skin have it. It's not a big deal. But you do want to keep the ocular rosacea at bay because since it's an inflamation, it exacerbates the MGD. You can't cure the rosacea but you can keep from doing things that aggravate it, like heat. Some people find spicy foods to be a trigger, too. Oh, and alcohol, too.

So far as being single with these problems...
If someone is so close to you as to be able to see the veins in your eyes, they are already planning on kissing you, anyway. And if someone decided not to kiss you because you have some veins that show in your eyes, would you really want to kiss them?

If you're self-conscious of your eyes, get a little tint in your glasses.

[bernmee]

Ha Ha NYer, that's funny about the kissing

I have ocular rosacea and rosacea and am doing warm compresses, but for 10 minutes at a time. Where did you hear 2min?

Bernadette

[NYer]

Dr. Latkany said no more than 2 minutes with ocular rosacea and warm not hot.

[bernmee]

I had no idea....sure would speed up my eye care routine.

How often do you do yours?

B.

[NYer]

When I am being diligent, twice a day. When I am not, twice a week.

[GinaJ]

Hi. I have skin issues when I developed this too. They thought rosacea but it is seborrehic dermititis. I do get splotchy red and very dry on my skin. I have a special steriod shampoo for my hair for the dandruff but for my face I use over the counter vanicream. It works wonders and I hate lotion. My derm told me to get it and is for sensitive skin. Of course make sure it is ok for you but a thought

[mclaire66]

I never can detect oil coming out of my glands or any discharge from my glands while doing the massage after the compresses.

i cannot detect the oil being expressed either so i'm worried i'm not doing it right but then i've read that some people may not see the oil?