40 yo female with mgd

[jennifermd2015]

Hi all, I have had mgd for a while now (8 years?)...when the doc expresses my glands absolutely nothing comes out! I really can't wear my contacts too much anymore and just try to stick to glasses except when I want to swim, scuba, snorkel. For a long time I have considered PRK but not sure how my eyes would take it, the problem is my vision with glasses is not so great. When I am not wearing contacts my eyes are not too bad but if there is a lot of wind or dust, forget it! I am interested if anyone has had success with Lipiflow? I really don't know if my glands are just clogged, totally dropped out, or just not producing anything. How can I tell? My opth does not seem to be able to tell me, just that when she expresses nothing is coming out. I really thought that this is something that happens when you are very old, not that starts in your mid 30s! I take a ton of flaxseed oil each day (around 3000mg) and also have tried hot compresses (did not help and made my eyelids look wrinkly and awful) and I have been using castor oil in my eyes at night to help with morning dryness (helps a lot!). I don't want to get stuck on some medication but I thought maybe I would see if Lipiflow has helped anyone or what I need to look into (not sure insurance would cover the exorbitant cost here in US). Any advice????

[BigApple24]

Try being a 23 year old guy in his prime dealing with this. Sad truth is that there is no cure for mgd at this point, you can do all the lipiflow and stuff you want, it's just gonna be a waste of money. My thoughts are that this is mostly something older people in their 60s and 70s deal with, and by then you have so many other medical issues going on that they probably couldn't care less about a little redness and dryness in the eyes. In fact, I bet most old people just assume it's a natural cause of againg..which it kind of is. More genetic than anything else also... but this is why there's so little medical research being put towards mgd, because the majority of people suffering from it are older and simply don't care enough to raise awareness, and whenever someone under the age of about 50 gets it we freak out, as mostly anyone would. My best hope right now is a drop created by Sylentis that just did well in phase II trials and is supposed to help with the pain and redness associated with mgd. Best bet is 2017 sometime for its release . Also lifitegraste should be out later this year, but it's pretty much a stronger version of restasis

[nori2015]

PRK is what caused this whole mess for me....I wouldn't recommend it.

[LaDiva]

So I am one of those old people who doesn't matter because we are just old and don't care anyway, but I would suggest that you visit your closest state college campus with a teaching school of ophthalmology, or contact them by email or phone. Many offer Lipiflow and meibography, and some even have dry eye departments. Teaching schools are generally cheaper, and the care is excellent and up-to-date. They also take their time while you are there so you won't feel rushed. Frankly, I second Nori's comment. I've had PRK too, and would not recommend it to anyone, ever. Nor would I recommend Lasik. It just isn't worth the risk, and if you already have dry eye, the chances are good that this will make your eyes worse. Much worse. Best wishes to you.

[Mahniah]

I had very bad MGD 10 years ago, suffered terribly for 2 years and then, on this site, someone mentioned a doctor in Boston who did something new, gland probing. It gave me a new life, but it doesn't last forever. I've had two more probings since then and now this doctor has switched to IPL because, he says, it gets out more of what's clogging the gland. That was the case with me. It's also not covered by insurance and is expensive, but many opthamologists do that now. My eyes have been good since the first probing.