Can plugs be helpful for someone with MGD and is not aqueous deficient?

[kpaul84]

Just curious. I am not aqueous deficient but my oil layer is not so good. Would punctal plugs help?

[indrep]

kpaul,
The goal is to keep the ocular surface moist and comfortable. Punctal occlusion keeps more volume of tears on the surface. This should help; however, you should try to maximize the secretion of lipids from your meibomian glands to regulate the evaporation of those tears. There are many ways to accomplish this, I'm sure your doctor can give you information.

[spmcc]

I don't think there's any harm trying cellulose (dissolving) plugs. I've had tons of pairs of them over my 14 years of dry eye.

My regular ophthalmologist says hers last around 10 days. However, the cornea specialist I saw had ones that last 6 weeks (but he said they could remain up to 3 months).

I would recommend these before going onto silicone or intracanalicular plugs.

[kitty]

I have MGD, ocular rosacea and allergies, plus hormonal and other environmental causes of my DES. I had 4 plugs at one time. While they made my eyes wetter they did not make my eyes more comfortable. In other words, my tear film was still out of whack with the plugs. Much depends on the type of dry eye that you have. That is just my experience. You won't know if you don't try them.

[indrep]

Kitty is correct. Until the evaporation rate is moderated, the osmolarity is difficult to change. It is quite amazing how fast the tears can evaporate in differing environments. what might be an undectable breeze to you can have severe impact on tear evaporation rate.