Gland Expression after Lipiflow

[ebi1368]

I did my lipiflow 12 days ago.
Last Wednesday, I went to see this new doctor and he told me let me express your gland with q-tip. He expressed my gland and without any surprise, they were like toothpaste. Since then, (2 days) my eye lid are inflamed and I feel more dryness. I am taking lotemax at the moment. My question is, did he harm my gland by expressing them? I always thought if they express them my eye will feel better.

[edmunder]

Yes this is the problem i have as well. I did lipiflow and was very good a couple weeks, but then the oil thickened again.

Im not sure what to tell you, im in the same boat.

EDIT: expressing will not hurt the gland. It should be good for the gland to get the bad oils out.

I am going to try IPL and see what happens. Here is a list of places that have IPL.

http://dryeyenews.com/centers-of-excellence/

[ebi1368]

The inflammation just happened after expression. with q-tip. Do you think it is usual. It has been two days since I did expression.

[deep_dry_eye]

The inflammation just happened after expression. with q-tip. Do you think it is usual. It has been two days since I did expression.

Correlation does not imply causation . I notice w/ my MGD that I have good days and bad days , usually in batches . I very highly doubt that expressing your glands, especially with just a cue tip, can do any harm to the glands.

[ebi1368]

Thanks maybe I should do cold compress ?

[hyzlt7980]

Yes this is the problem i have as well. I did lipiflow and was very good a couple weeks, but then the oil thickened again.

Im not sure what to tell you, im in the same boat.

EDIT: expressing will not hurt the gland. It should be good for the gland to get the bad oils out.

I am going to try IPL and see what happens. Here is a list of places that have IPL.

http://dryeyenews.com/centers-of-excellence/

Looks like lipiflow just give temporary relief. Did you take omega 3 and lid cleanser. my dc also give me some mineral oil to clean lower lid every night. I am also on xiidra

[edmunder]

Looks like lipiflow just give temporary relief. Did you take omega 3 and lid cleanser. my dc also give me some mineral oil to clean lower lid every night. I am also on xiidra

Yes i use a rough lid scrub and then hypocholoric acid for bacteria.

I also use xiidra and cyclosporine drops but the main thing is clogged glands. If you dont have those going you dont have anything.

Im not sure how bad you are but it can get pretty hard once the glands all stop working.

[farmgirl]

If I remember correctly Dr Korb says that after lipiflow the glands should be expressed every month. It would be normal for the eyes to be worse after expressing if the oils are that thick but without expressing them and moving the bad oil out not much will change and they should be expressed every month. I should expect that they will improve in a few days. I was told to use a cold compress the day of and day after the expression following my IPL and then to switch to the warm compress. I just had my 4th IPL yesterday and the eyes are irritated and feel dryer than before but that usually goes away within about 5 days and following the last treatment they were much better. I am hoping for the same improvement this time. I still have thick oils in some glands and some shortened ones producing precious little. The good news is though that I have a lot of glands producing quality oil particularly on the top.

I believe you are on the right track...stay the course...F/G

[hyzlt7980]

Yes this is the problem i have as well. I did lipiflow and was very good a couple weeks, but then the oil thickened again.

Im not sure what to tell you, im in the same boat.

EDIT: expressing will not hurt the gland. It should be good for the gland to get the bad oils out.

I am going to try IPL and see what happens. Here is a list of places that have IPL.

http://dryeyenews.com/centers-of-excellence/

I did lipiflow 1 week ago.
Dc told me if you keep warm compressing after lipiflow. The effect will last years. May be because my blockage is not serious. The glands are just crooked and they are all open.
Do you have serious blockage?

By the way, is sleep late bad for dry eye? I sleep very late but I have enough sleep. do not know if that will worsen my condition?

[ebi1368]

If I remember correctly Dr Korb says that after lipiflow the glands should be expressed every month. It would be normal for the eyes to be worse after expressing if the oils are that thick but without expressing them and moving the bad oil out not much will change and they should be expressed every month. I should expect that they will improve in a few days. I was told to use a cold compress the day of and day after the expression following my IPL and then to switch to the warm compress. I just had my 4th IPL yesterday and the eyes are irritated and feel dryer than before but that usually goes away within about 5 days and following the last treatment they were much better. I am hoping for the same improvement this time. I still have thick oils in some glands and some shortened ones producing precious little. The good news is though that I have a lot of glands producing quality oil particularly on the top.

I believe you are on the right track...stay the course...F/G

Thanks
it was my mistake, i was doing warm compress after my expression. I guess it made it worse

[MGD1701]

Hi ebi
I actually think you are very lucky to find such dr who offered to express glands.

[ebi1368]

That is good to hear. He actually offered to express my gland every month. Anybody living in Calgary Alberta who wants the address let me know. He does not charge for that as it is covered under alberta health.

[MGD1701]

Great. Sounds like a great doctor who cares for patients. Lucky you.
Did he express glands with 2 q-tips or just one? I assume 2pcs, right? As they work better for toothpaste-like secretion.

Did dr do warm compress prior to expressoin? No, I guess??

Just try to figure out the difference, if any. Thanks.

[ebi1368]

He did using 2 q-tips. My eyes hurts so much after. I will ask him to put a few drops of artificial tear on it for the next time before expressing my gland.
He asked me to come back in a week for another round of expression.

[MGD1701]

Did he do warm compress prior to expression?