Hello from Sweden

Thank you i will!

Thank you, i will!

[Alix]

Alix Thanks for sharing your cause! Are you going back to the London clinic soon?

Yes i guess it's good news that they are still there, but also frustrating that they have not responded at all to the treatments so far but maybe as you are saying it's due to not enough IPL-treatments and the lack of manual expressions afterwards.
I will ask the doctor here in Sweden when returning to the clinic why he has not seen the need for these expressions.
I will refer to this forum and that people are finding it very strange haha.

I did the thing with the Q-tip as you had been recommended, don't know if i am just imagining things but i got the feeling that more oils came out of the glands. Maybe i been doing things wrong all along, now i did like this: https://youtu.be/nYYQrMiebV0 without the spray. Don't know how much to trust her and her boyfriend with the products to use as they always are coming back to their own created products it seems.

No they have not told me the possible cause to the bad quality oils. Yes the diet is very good and green since a couple of weeks ago even though it has never really been that bad i think.

Hi no I'm not going back there, there isn't anything else more they can do for me. I have another check up appointment at Moorfields though soon.

It makes sense that the q tip rolling motions are working, after all you are directing the oil along in the same direction as the glands.

Do keep us updated, and good luck at the clinic!

[Hajen13]

Alix Thanks for sharing your cause! Are you going back to the London clinic soon?

Yes i guess it's good news that they are still there, but also frustrating that they have not responded at all to the treatments so far but maybe as you are saying it's due to not enough IPL-treatments and the lack of manual expressions afterwards.
I will ask the doctor here in Sweden when returning to the clinic why he has not seen the need for these expressions.
I will refer to this forum and that people are finding it very strange haha.

I did the thing with the Q-tip as you had been recommended, don't know if i am just imagining things but i got the feeling that more oils came out of the glands. Maybe i been doing things wrong all along, now i did like this: https://youtu.be/nYYQrMiebV0 without the spray. Don't know how much to trust her and her boyfriend with the products to use as they always are coming back to their own created products it seems.

No they have not told me the possible cause to the bad quality oils. Yes the diet is very good and green since a couple of weeks ago even though it has never really been that bad i think.

Hajenthirteen I read that there are cases where IPL started giving improvement after three treatments. Maybe it is your case? The usual protocol is not at least 4 treatments of IPL?

My situation maybe is not severe as your (merging the diagnosis of my 5 opthamologists I have MGD / evaporative dry eye / blepharitis), but this routine is helping me a bit:
- Hot compresses
- Nasal rinse
- Fish Oil + Flaxseed Oil + Strong probiotics
- Healthy diet
- 2 litres of water a day
- Eyelid wipes (if blephaclean doesn't work, try other wipes. They are not all equals)

And you know what? probiotics is the thing that helped me more, but I have to be sure and investigate more.

If nothing worked, maybe the problem is not the eyes. In my case I think it is something else, so very soon I will try to check things like:
- Allergies
- Leaky gut
- Gluten Sensitivity/intollerance
- Hormones (thyroid, insulin, estrogens)
- Sjogren Syndrome (for the second time)

If they will be negative, I will try to do a detox/low infiammatory diet (plus the usual routine). Some studies says that bacteria in your gut may trigger an inflammatory eye disorder.

Have you had a lipiview scan done of your glands and their state? I’d be interested to know, because I too believe that a good diet is so important for reducing chronic systemic inflammation in the body. However with moderate gland atrophy in each eyelid I lose hope with ever thinking things can get better.

[Alix]

Me again. Now i know that a meibography has been done and that my glandes in no way are destroyed or anything, they are just producing bad quality oils. Also a test called "PRT" (based on the schimmers test it seems) has been done, here i am scoring 16mm on the right eye and 15mm on the left which apparently is a fully normal result or even good as it should be somewhere between 10-20 mm but i guess most of you already know that

This is great news! Based on everything you have said, it sounds like your glands are blocked and it is just a matter of unblocking them.
If you have the full course of 6 x IPL using the correct protocol ie. manual expression afterwards, and you carry on doing warm eye compress, you stand every chance of recovering.

Maybe the clinic will recommend gland probing even? In any case you will find the right answers once you go see the doctors there.

Did they say why you are producing bad quality oils by the way? Have you thought about cleaning up your diet maybe?

As for me they told me my glands have gone due to long time contact lens use plus long periods on the computer at work which has resulted in partial blinking. I am trying to do blinking exercises, but they are not really working.

[Hajen13]

Me again. Now i know that a meibography has been done and that my glandes in no way are destroyed or anything, they are just producing bad quality oils. Also a test called "PRT" (based on the schimmers test it seems) has been done, here i am scoring 16mm on the right eye and 15mm on the left which apparently is a fully normal result or even good as it should be somewhere between 10-20 mm but i guess most of you already know that

[Hajen13]

Alix Hi! Okay i understand thank you. I am sorry to hear that you don't have that many glands left but "good" that you know your state early on. Don't know if you have mentioned it but was your condition also what you think triggered by computer/screens?

I will try it with the Q-tip after the warm compresses, i have nothing to loose as the current method is not doing anything for me Yes it is strange, i emailed him today asking whether or not he knows the status on my glands and if no they have the tools for doing a meibography. Hopefully it will lead me in some sort of direction.

Otherwise i saw that the clinic in Oslo offered this service so that feels comfortable. Yes it really fills me with hope visiting their home page, so glad you mentioned this clinic to me.

[Alix]

Hi Marcus I am just repeating what I’ve been told to do by doctors at Moorfields. They have not mentioned anything about massaging. If anyone reading this has been told to do something else please chime in.

Personally I am not doing warm eye compress anymore as it causes more inflammation and it doesn’t provide any relief. I hardly have any glands left so it’s not going to help.

I am not saying what the doctor you have been seeing is doing is wrong, but the circling motions after warm eye compress sounds strange, and it is not surprising you are not finding relief after IPL if he is not doing manual expression afterwards with forceps. This is key. Just pushing against the eyelids with a q tip is not enough.

Im glad you are looking into going to the clinic in Oslo. I agree it looks impressive - the doctors look well qualified and experienced, and are using the latest technology. I have not seen these kinds of equipment even at Moorfields or at the Dry Eye Centre so I think going there is the best thing you can do right now.

[Hajen13]

Alix farmgirl Sorry the translation wasn't the best, as farmgirl mentioned i meant a Q-tip. Then no manual expression has been made neither after IPL or the Lipiflow. And this is strange since i have not experienced any improvement right afterwards which i should have if the oils were fluid?

Thank you both for the inputs regarding lipiview, i realise that this is now my next step in order to really understand the problem rather than just knowing that i have "MGD".

Alix Interesting about the Q-tip, is this the "only" thing you are doing after warm compresses or are you also doing massage with your fingers? I was being told years ago by this clinic that i should do circle movements with the top of my finger, going upwards on the lower lid and the opposite on the upper.

[Hajen13]

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.

Yes this is my opinion as well. I really don't think this problem is that spread in Sweden and therefore it only exists one real clinic which is targeting the problems. As i said before i have been googling for 6 years, never ever have i come across any swede having these problems. And i exclude the usual mentions that i see from time to time that for example 1 or 2/5 of all swedes suffers from this problem. I don't believe that, and i get so angry when seeing facts like that. Don't mix up people who can take two eyedrops and everything is fine with the people that for example is on this forum.

[farmgirl]

I'm also from sweden, the eye doctors here are really stupid. DON'T trust them.

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.

[farmgirl]

I am starting to think that after all the eyedoctor might have done expression after the IPL. He pushed against my eyelid margin with an ear picker afterwards, is that it? And is that something i should do myself after using warm compresses?

2: Why is meibography so important to do? I mean how can i for example use the information that 4 out of lets say 12 glands in my left lower eyelid are not working as they should?

If by ear picker you mean a q-tip, like a little stick with cotton on the end, yes those are also used one on the inside and one on the outside of the lid. It is quite painful if your glands are blocked, like squeezing a zit so there is no mistaking what they are doing, usually I am left calling UNCLE which is a colloquial way of saying, stop, I give up! Then they comment usually on what they are finding, take pictures to show you etc. Just pressure with a q-tip on one side of the lid will not do the job unless your oils are really fluid.

The lipiview gives you tons of info about how your glands are functioning, like are they missing or atrophied, are you a partial blinker how much oil are you producing what quality is the oil etc. It is essential to know what shape they are in because if you are losing them you really need to have an awareness so you can guard what is left of them.

[Yzhfd]

I'm also from sweden, the eye doctors here are really stupid. DON'T trust them.

[Alix]

The consultation at the Dry Eye Centre in London last year where they did lipiview cost 250 pounds. It might be more now.

Not sure how much Lipiflow costs in the UK but I imagine it is very expensive.