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So I've been posting about my IPL experience and thought I would update everyone. I had my fourth treatment last month and I'm pretty much back at square one. The first two treatments I got no relief whatsoever, which my doctor said he wasn't expecting anyways since he said my MG secrections were like silly string. The third I started to feel a lot better, the inflammation was down, the redness, dryness, burning everything was better, not 100% but I was happy and exicted to see what the fourth treatment would bring. This lasted about 2 weeks, and then gradually everything started reappearing. The IPL machine cannot directly treat the upper lids because of damage to the eye. The only area treated close to the upper eyelid itself is the temple area, this is supposed to shut down all the blood vessels feeding the upper lid which in my case is where all the redness and inflammation are constant which in turn causes MGD and DES. I believe that IPL helps, but I guess the main question is for how long? Sooner or later the little veins that carry inflammatory mediators return and the the whole cycle begins again. Everyones case is different so for someone relief might last a month and for other people longer. I have ocular rosacea/MGD so I have redness and flushing episodes that cause all the problems with my eyes, I think because of this, the inflammation returns much faster and all those little blood vessels that were shut down during the IPL begin coming back at a much faster rate than someone who just has MGD alone. I don't regret having the treatment and I wouldn't want to sway anyones decision to have the treatment based on my experience alone..everyone's case is different. Maybe once I get the rosacea under control a fifth treatment might help..or maybe thats just me trying to maintain hope for a lost cause. I've begun seeing a new derm, started minocycline and putting metro gel on my eyelids..something I've never tried. For now at least, I have to try and treat the rosacea first and foremost. I'm still tempted to do another treatment because of the two weeks of happiness I experienced thinking it was almost over and I was going to continue to get better. But for now after 1000 bucks, I'm going to stick with the rosacea treatment and see if that helps.
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