IPL success!!

[KittyCat]

Awesome! Did they do the IPL directly on your eyelids with a corneal shield, or just around your face?

The unfortunate thing about IPL is it can't be done on darker skin, the melanin is like natural sunscreen and absorbs too much energy.

But it's not just the manual expression, there is good data that the IPL itself helps stop the inflammation. I've had warming and manual expression done and I didn't notice much difference, the glands just get clogged up again.

Hey lipino,

I wore eye shields and had 5 pulses each eye, nose to ear on my lower eyelid!

Cat

[KittyCat]

Eyelid inflammation is blepharitis. So all the symptoms associated with blepharitis - puffy eyelids, potential scaling of the surface, flaky skin, blocked glands (even), crusting, lashes missing, demodex, etc.
My understanding is that IPL works by reducing the gland inflammation. In some cases glands become blocked due to the glands being inflamed (many reasons - s dermatitis, bacteria, etc).

Aaaah, so benja5290 and gilles in that case I have no inflammation that I know of. I'm lucky enough to have no signs of bleph, and my doctor has never told me I have any active inflammation.
.

[gilles]

KittyCat, you said your routine now is warm compresses twice a day and blink exercises. Do you include eyelid hygiene (lid debriment, eyelid scrubs, etc.)?

[KittyCat]

gilles I use something called 'Vital Baby Aquaint' as recommended by another UK user, as it's available on Amazon UK and pretty cheap! It's just Hypochloric Acid and I just spray it on my finger and rub it onto my eyes in the morning, just to get rid of any sleep crustiness and to moisten my eyelids. That's all I do as far as eyelid hygiene goes as I don't have any bleph! It's nice and refreshing. Sometimes I'll do it during the day if my eyes are feeling a bit dry and I don't want to use a lot of drops, but that's a rare day! For eyedrops I use Hyco San Dual and I use those anywhere between twice a day and maybe 6 times a day max.

Cat

[gilles]

gilles I use something called 'Vital Baby Aquaint' as recommended by another UK user, as it's available on Amazon UK and pretty cheap! It's just Hypochloric Acid and I just spray it on my finger and rub it onto my eyes in the morning, just to get rid of any sleep crustiness and to moisten my eyelids. That's all I do as far as eyelid hygiene goes as I don't have any bleph! It's nice and refreshing. Sometimes I'll do it during the day if my eyes are feeling a bit dry and I don't want to use a lot of drops, but that's a rare day! For eyedrops I use Hyco San Dual and I use those anywhere between twice a day and maybe 6 times a day max.

Cat

I don't know the cause of the dysfunctioning of my glands, so to rule out the bacterial part I try to clean my eyelids. Maybe it is of no use and will only exacerbate the inflammation. I guess eyelid hygiene is only useful if having flaky and itchy eyelids with lots of dirt, bacteria and dandruff; which I don't have.

[KittyCat]

gilles my eye doctor said I have no signs of bleph at all so there's no real need for me to practice rigorous eyelid hygiene unless I feel I really want to. Obviously I wash my face normally but I don't really fret about perfect lid hygiene! But that's just me!

I also don't know the root cause of my dysfunction, but I did suffer from adult acne until very recently and have oily skin generally. I also wore contact lenses to death until I could no longer wear them (so uncomfortable), and my job as a proofreader staring at screens for far too long are, I think, my "multifaceted" reasons it's happened to me. I'm 34 and have zero other health problems so I don't believe it's a biological thing, or a systemic thing. I just thing I've abused my eyes for too long unfortunately. However, I am now feeling much much better after IPL and not wearing makeup for 6 months thanks to covid and working from home.


Fun fact that weirdly made me feel a lot better, Jennifer Aniston suffers from chronic dry eye! There's a few articles out there where she talks about it quite a bit.

[gilles]

gilles my eye doctor said I have no signs of bleph at all so there's no real need for me to practice rigorous eyelid hygiene unless I feel I really want to. Obviously I wash my face normally but I don't really fret about perfect lid hygiene! But that's just me!

I also don't know the root cause of my dysfunction, but I did suffer from adult acne until very recently and have oily skin generally. I also wore contact lenses to death until I could no longer wear them (so uncomfortable), and my job as a proofreader staring at screens for far too long are, I think, my "multifaceted" reasons it's happened to me. I'm 34 and have zero other health problems so I don't believe it's a biological thing, or a systemic thing. I just thing I've abused my eyes for too long unfortunately. However, I am now feeling much much better after IPL and not wearing makeup for 6 months thanks to covid and working from home.


Fun fact that weirdly made me feel a lot better, Jennifer Aniston suffers from chronic dry eye! There's a few articles out there where she talks about it quite a bit.

We share the oily skin, acne, and computer screen part (software developer). I also think having been at friends in a room full of cigarette smoke and allergens (his cat used to lay on the coach) and having chalazions because of that, while my other friend also had chalazions at that time, played a big role. Chalazions might be the reason of old meibum plugging the gland.

I guess the eyelid hygiene could play a inflammatory role, because this blephasol makes my skin a bit red on the sides (it can be a bit harsh on the skin).
By the way, if I understand it correctly, what you mean is anterior blepharitis with bleph? While what we both share (mgd, or posterior blepharitis), it is true that the hygiene part plays a bigger role with the anterior bleph.

I also came across an article about Jennifer Aniston having trouble with dry eyes. I'll look into it is I'm curious to see which bleph. she is dealing with.

[jack1988]

Hi everyone,

I just want to give a good news story!

I have MGD (diagnosed just 4 months ago), I'm 33 and I was so scared when it first happened. My NHS optometrist just told me to use eye drops and hot compresses, but when I came across this forum I realised I needed to take my own action and pay to see a private specialist.
I went to BBR in Hereford who were brilliant. They did a bunch of diagnostic tests and really listened to me and calmed my anxiety.
My TBUT was 3 seconds in my left eye and 6 in my right, and my oil was like butter. Not great! I didn't need Lipiflow as my glands are all open, just very sluggish.

I did my first IPL last Wednesday, and in the last 6 days I've used eye drops maybe 6 times in total. Down from about 4-6 times per day! My eyes feel 95% normal. I no longer have stinging and burning in my eyes, except a handful of days where I stay up too late, which I will happily take.
And this is after the first treatment! They said I probably won't feel any improvement until my 3rd session but I feel a huge improvement to the point that I am no longer thinking about my eyes except pure joy.
I have read up on it, and some people are considered early responders and will feel the benefit straight away, it seems that's me!
For all of those who think they can't be treated, please please please consider IPL!
I'm no longer depressed and anxious, I feel great.

All
I'm doing at the moment is my relaxing hot compresses twice a day, and using EvoTears once or twice a day if I need to (but mostly no drops at all). I wear EyeSeals 4.0 to bed, and that's it!

It's only because of this forum that I took matters into my own hands and paid for private care, and I'm so glad I did.

I'll update again after my second session.

Good luck everyone

Cat xx

What made you choose Evotears btw? Have you tried any other drops? I have MGD and use Hypromollese but it doesn't always work!

I have tried NovaTears (same as Evo) and they irritate my eyes a little bit. Is that something you have noticed too?

[KittyCat]

What made you choose Evotears btw? Have you tried any other drops? I have MGD and use Hypromollese but it doesn't always work!

I have tried NovaTears (same as Evo) and they irritate my eyes a little bit. Is that something you have noticed too?

Hi Jack,

I only used EvoTears because my eye doc gave me a trial! I didn't like them for the first week or so, and then I grew to like them! Although they've run out now and I haven't repurchased. I use HycoSan Dual (UK), and they seem to be just fine! It could be because my condition is moderate, rather than severe, but I don't seem to have a real preference when it comes to eye drops. As long as they hydrate me, I think I can pretty much use any (although I haven't actually tried that many so far).

[jack1988]

Hi Jack,

I only used EvoTears because my eye doc gave me a trial! I didn't like them for the first week or so, and then I grew to like them! Although they've run out now and I haven't repurchased. I use HycoSan Dual (UK), and they seem to be just fine! It could be because my condition is moderate, rather than severe, but I don't seem to have a real preference when it comes to eye drops. As long as they hydrate me, I think I can pretty much use any (although I haven't actually tried that many so far).

Thanks for the reply. Can I ask why you didn't like them? Were they irritating?

[KittyCat]

I wouldn't say they were irritating as such, but they felt sticky sometimes instead of refreshing! I don't know if that's common but it felt a bit weird at times.

[gilles]

For me evotears was irritating my left eye, where is was a bit sensitive (eroded, inflammation vessels due to dryness). I think I also stopped using these eyedrops as I came across comments on this forum about a harmful ingredient in the eyedrops (bad batch I think). I think this is the link to the explanation.

[jack1988]

For me evotears was irritating my left eye, where is was a bit sensitive (eroded, inflammation vessels due to dryness). I think I also stopped using these eyedrops as I came across comments on this forum about a harmful ingredient in the eyedrops (bad batch I think). I think this is the link to the explanation.

For the first hour, they are kind of irritating, in my opinion

[gilles]

For the first hour, they are kind of irritating, in my opinion

I'm not sure if eyedrops should be irritating at all...

[gilles]

Hi KittyCat how have you been doing, how are you eyes?
Would you mind giving is a new update of the status of your eyes? (do you have a feeling the IPL/manual expression improved your eyes, or rather your regimen of warm compress)