Hello from Sweden

[Milo007]

I believe it’s unlikely that just poor blinks can cause glands to block on their own. The oil isn’t going to block up if you blink not often, it’s a predisposition, there’s homeless people on the streets that don’t shower for weeks and live in absolute filth who don’t have dry eyes. You can’t tell me the computer of all things is going to **** up the glands. If it was then there’d be billions with this problem.

this is going to sound really out of place but, I think that certain flus and colds have bacteria that have certain strands that can cause a weird immune response within the body that attacks tissues and not allowing the white blood cells to do their thing. Causing inflammation and damage under the surface until it’s bad enough that symptoms arise. I truly think that bacteri are evolving due to the chronic overuse of antibiotics that are being abused in today’s modern society.

You are partially correct when you say that the meibomian glands cannot get blocked due to partial or incomplete blinking. I believe that "prolonged" partial blinking can cause blockage of the glands. It is the habit of partial blinking over years that results in the blockage of the glands. When one blinks partially most of the time the meibum inside the glands do not get expressed at the rate at which it is being synthesized. So there is either a stagnation or a reduced rate of flow of meibum within the central duct of the glands. Now stagnation doesn't cause the blockage itself. It's the bacteria naturally residing inside our meibomian glands that utilizes this opportunity and causes the conversion of the lipids to free fatty acids which have elevated melting temperatures and hence they solidify at the normal temperature of the ocular surface. Demodex might also cause terminal duct obstruction inducing hyperkeratinization which again causes statis of the meibum and the bacteria join the party.

So it's pretty much similar to acne vulgaris when hyperkeratinization within the sebaceous glands cause an obstruction and P. Acnes causes an inflammatory response by releasing toxic wastes inside the blocked gland. In the case of meibomian glands the stagnation of the meibum provides time for the bacteria to facilitate the conversion of the lipids. If the flow of meibum was faster due to evenly spaced complete blinks then the lipids would have continuously moved out of the glands before the conversion could take place.

This is just one way of developing MGD. Mind it there could be at least dozens of other ways the meibomian glands can be adversely affected. All end up causing the glands to malfunction which is common.

I don't think evolved bacteria is the cause of MGD since if that was the case I should not have developed it. I didn't take antibiotics for a decade maybe before I got this. I am very reluctant to take antibiotics unless absolutely necessary. Also I have seen plenty of people who abuse antibiotics like regular sleeping pills and they don't have MGD.

The inflammation kicks in once the LLT drops down due to either partial or complete blockage of the glands or the glands not secreting enough lipids. Chronic inflammation amplifies the cycle of MGD and damages the glands further slowly and steadily until you have most of the glands malfunctioning.

[Topher3]

As always thanks for the responses! Forgot about the antidepressants and rosecea as two major contributers to MGD.

Yes genetics have to play a role in this as i am sure me and a lot of others have not done anything different from millions of others who also have a work which involves 8-9 hours in front of a screen. And the same
for all of you who have been introduced to MGD by these contributing conditions/products ect.

But just to sum up, it doesn't seem to be a lot of persons if anyone (?) on this forum who have lost glandes without being exposed by these often mentioned conditions/products?.

I believe it’s unlikely that just poor blinks can cause glands to block on their own. The oil isn’t going to block up if you blink not often, it’s a predisposition, there’s homeless people on the streets that don’t shower for weeks and live in absolute filth who don’t have dry eyes. You can’t tell me the computer of all things is going to **** up the glands. If it was then there’d be billions with this problem.

this is going to sound really out of place but, I think that certain flus and colds have bacteria that have certain strands that can cause a weird immune response within the body that attacks tissues and not allowing the white blood cells to do their thing. Causing inflammation and damage under the surface until it’s bad enough that symptoms arise. I truly think that bacteri are evolving due to the chronic overuse of antibiotics that are being abused in today’s modern society.

[Hajen13]

As always thanks for the responses! Forgot about the antidepressants and rosecea as two major contributers to MGD.

Yes genetics have to play a role in this as i am sure me and a lot of others have not done anything different from millions of others who also have a work which involves 8-9 hours in front of a screen. And the same
for all of you who have been introduced to MGD by these contributing conditions/products ect.

But just to sum up, it doesn't seem to be a lot of persons if anyone (?) on this forum who have lost glandes without being exposed by these often mentioned conditions/products?.

[Chemia]

Genetics play a huge role. There are certain triggers and circumstances that can make MGD worse but if you are genetically predisposed to having it, there is not a whole lot you can do to stop it. I know people who take Accutane, smoke, LASIK, poor eating habits, prolonged contact lens use and have no issues with their eyes and you can be so healthy and have dry eyes. I remember telling my corneal specialist that I had completed 4 rounds of IPL performed by another doctor and his response was "your glands are going to revert back to how they were and IPL is temporary. Its all in your DNA". Needless to say, I stopped doing further IPL treatments.

[Topher3]

I guess this is where genetics come into play. It’s like we all know smoking is a major cause of lung cancer and people die of it through passive smoking or smoking a few cigarettes a week for a couple of years and yet there are people who smoke a lot more than that and are still alive at 100 cancer free.

Alix i think she’s absolutely right, genetics play a huge role more than we can every imagine. We all have to learn to not be so hard on ourselves and not blame ourselves as we didn’t wilfully put ourselves in this position. everyone in this world trying to survive and for most people, life is going to have some hiccups, plain and simple, the end. We have to stop comparing what we have to others, realise what we’re dealing with, accept it and then we can move to the next step and love our lives and ourselves wholly. Stay strong everyone, life will improve and if it doesn’t then keep on going until it does :-)

[Alix]

Hello again,

Yet another question to the forum on something i have been thinking about without founding an answer.

Is there anyone in here or somebody in here who know people who have lost glandes without ever have worn contact lenses, doing lasers operations and been on accutane (maybe i am forgetting some common reason)?

People like me who got the problem because of staring into a screen all day long.

I guess this is where genetics come into play. It’s like we all know smoking is a major cause of lung cancer and people die of it through passive smoking or smoking a few cigarettes a week for a couple of years and yet there are people who smoke a lot more than that and are still alive at 100 cancer free.

[Topher3]

Hello again,

Yet another question to the forum on something i have been thinking about without founding an answer.

Is there anyone in here or somebody in here who know people who have lost glandes without ever have worn contact lenses, doing lasers operations and been on accutane (maybe i am forgetting some common reason)?

People like me who got the problem because of staring into a screen all day long.

That’s the thing, it’s so hard because I’ve never done any of the things you’ve mentioned apart from a creen staring and I have shortened glands. However I do have ocular rosecea and seborrheic dermatitis so I guess that rules me out as they play a major role in contributing to MGD.

I dont think there is people people who have mgd just from looking at screens, because then you have to go down the route of people who are on anti depressants and they have a chance to play a role and there’s so many people on that.

Just think for a second, out in the wild the animals always stare for long amount of time does that mean they get mgd? Animals are always in a stressed state and are on alert for predators. I really am not sure how low low a blink rate has to be to cause problems but for it to block up in the glands I feel like there has to be a secondary problem to initiate and cause dry eyes to activate.

[Hajen13]

Hello again,

Yet another question to the forum on something i have been thinking about without founding an answer.

Is there anyone in here or somebody in here who know people who have lost glandes without ever have worn contact lenses, doing lasers operations and been on accutane (maybe i am forgetting some common reason)?

People like me who got the problem because of staring into a screen all day long.

[Yzhfd]

I am sure Yzhfd that your doctors are not stupid, they are just not educated on dry eye and how to diagnose and treat it, there is a difference.

Yeah, they are not educated on it, that's a problem. I still call them stupid because they cannot think outside the box, can't learn anything on their own, all they can do is cram information from a book into their heads and then barf out the same information I can find on google. They are not scientists, just glorified mechanics, I've lost so much respect for doctors. I've had to do everything myself.

[farmgirl]

HI Ian:

When you get it prescribed most prescribing doctors will give you a card that allows you to get it 1/2 price. Then you need to get it from Costco they are by FAR cheaper (like 50%). Costco requires a membership but maybe you can get a temporary one and have it filled that day. Either that or if you know of someone who has one maybe they will go with you and you can fill it using their membership. Mine costs $100.

[Hajen13]

Yes i will do that. Also what i thought that it wasn't necessary with glasses when having theese kind of numbers but it would ceirtanly be interesting to let the eyes "relax" at all time.

They told me about 450 dollars (4000sek) for the glas it self, maybe that the frames dont have to have to be that expensive though.

Thank you for your answer.

[Fenix]

I think you must ask it to a doctor. But for me your numbers seems to low to prescribe glasses. When doctors found me a difference of -0.25 between glasses and the current sight, they have always said "it's not necessary to make new glasses".

Are the glasses so expensive in Sweden?

[Hajen13]

Recently i saw an orthoptist as i've earlier been hearing from an optician that he thought i had a very slight strabismus (hope it is the right word) and apparently there has been coming more and more science which are showing a connection between this and dry eyes so i just wanted to check it out so i could stop thinking about it.

No strabismus was found but the orthoptist thought that i should get regular glasses (i am only having "working glasses" in front of the computer/tv today) as she thought it would be helpful.

But before i go spend about 600 dollar (yippie!), any thoughts if this could help my dry eyes or not? These are my numbers, i hope they are understandable:

Right eye: -0,25 -0,25 x55
Left eye: -0,50 x80

[Meibum Ian]

HI Hanna: Just a note to let you know that drugs are VERY expensive in the US, they are much cheaper in Canada. Xiidra in Canada costs about $70 USD ($100 canadian) for a one month supply. It actually does me 2 months because I can get a total of 4 drops out of a container so only use one/day, not 2.

Hi, I'm curious about this. Also interested in travelling from the UK to Canada in order to get Xiidra.

Phoned a couple of Pharmacists in Toronto to get the price of Xiidra and was quoted 255 CAD for 60 vials. If it's possible to get 2 months of use from it that's not too bad but i'm interested to know how you get it so much cheaper?

I also think I've read on here that it can be prescribed by optometrists and not just ophthalmologists. If you have any knowledge on that as well I'd appreciate it!

[Hajen13]

Thank you, i will!