How do I know if I have MGD?

[romeodakins]

I'm sure I have Blepharitis because when I look in the mirror I can see the oil on my lower eyelashes. I was just assuming I had MGD but I want to be sure because I'm not sure how to check because it is an problem in the interior of the eye and you can't really see it. Also I have a question about MGD, I know they get clogged up of oil and you have to do warm compresses to "melt" them and express them out but how do you get the glands to start working again after they're cleared out? They are dysfunctioned right? So how do you get them to gradually start working properly again? I've been doing warm compresses every day for about a month so far(well at least properly, the other 4 months I had it I'm not sure if I was doing the compresses correctly) and so far I've seen no improvement. I think they actually even got worse which is not good.

[chads38]

Hi romeodakins,
I too have self diagnosed myself with blepharitis and MGD.
to start with I had copious amounts of oil on my bottom lids which made them very irritated, but after a couple of weeks this dried up leaving me with very inflamed eyelids. after researching online I went and asked my dr if I could try Doxycycline as it is meant to help blepharitis I am currently half way through a 12 week course but apart from stopping the burning pain it hasn't done much else.
I have been doing the warm compresses for months, whilst I manage to express a little oil from my upper eyelid I think my lower ones are blocked as I cant see any glands or oil even with a magnifying glass.
What I never knew untill recently is that after the warm compress, expression, cleaning ritual etc you are meant to use a cold compress to calm the eye area back down.
today I have made an appointment with specsavers to have someone look at my eyelids and see what is going on, even though I had an eye test in november they said I will have to have another one as the optician doesn't just 'have a quick look' so thats another£24 on top of the hundreds I already spend on my eyes .
Perhaps you could do the same.

[chads38]

Well I had my appointment at specsavers today & the optician had a good look at my eyes ,she even flipped up my upper lids (a bit of a strange feeling but not at all painful)
I asked why my upper and lower lids were red ,bumpy and swollen and she said it looked like there was a bit of meibomian gland dysfunction going on and hopefully the doxycycline will cure it, she also said the veins on my upper and lower lids weren't too bad!!! But I think it looks like I have been crying for hours.
oh well at least its put my mind at rest that there is nothing worse going on. :-)

[romeodakins]

Well I had my appointment at specsavers today & the optician had a good look at my eyes ,she even flipped up my upper lids (a bit of a strange feeling but not at all painful)
I asked why my upper and lower lids were red ,bumpy and swollen and she said it looked like there was a bit of meibomian gland dysfunction going on and hopefully the doxycycline will cure it, she also said the veins on my upper and lower lids weren't too bad!!! But I think it looks like I have been crying for hours.
oh well at least its put my mind at rest that there is nothing worse going on. :-)

Can you tell me more about this doxycycline? Does it really cure MGD?

[chads38]

Can you tell me more about this doxycycline? Does it really cure MGD?

Not sure it cures it,
I have been on it nearly 2 months and it has helped with the burning. I think it is meant to reduce the bacteria in the glands and thin out the oils, but I cant say it's unblocking my meibomian glands at the moment.
I read somewhere that its very difficult to treat eyelid problems as oral medication takes a long time to reach these areas.
Originally I went to my dr and told him I thought I had Blepharitis and MGD and could I please try a 3 month course of Doxy to see if it would help, and he was happy to agree, maybe you could ask your dr.
He prescribed 100mg for 1 month and 50mg for the following 2 months, the burning and redness decreased after about 5 weeks but I would say I still have a long way to go.
I also take 3000mg of flaxseed oil capsules a day and 2 capsules of hyaluronic acid (from Holland and Barrett) both of which are meant to help the eyes.

[mgshutterbug]

Just a suggestion, but an experienced and thorough optometrist or ophthalmologist should be able to diagnose MGD and blepharitis. That being said, my initial forays into the world of dry eye care was not great. If my "corneal specialist", an ophthalmologist at a teaching hospital knew I had blepharitis or MGD, he never told me. 'course he never told me much of anything. I eventually listened really hard when he was mumbling some words to the medical students and interns as he quickly left the exam room. He left me totally uneducated. I still don't know much about what he thought. Even when I asked, after I'd done some research on the DEZ (after I thankfully found it), he just became angry with me that I dare ask him anything. If there's one thing I really really suggest, it's ask the doctor questions, and be as educated as you can. Because of my lack of knowledge, I ended up losing central vision in my other eye because this "great" ophth continued to ignore my reports of loss of central vision in that eye. I thought maybe I had macular degeneration. He kept saying, "there's nothing wrong with your eye". Turns out I had a macular hole. By the time I went to a retinal specialist at another teaching hospital, the damage was permanent. I had to have surgery, but no vision returned. Being informed is our best defense.

[romeodakins]

Just a suggestion, but an experienced and thorough optometrist or ophthalmologist should be able to diagnose MGD and blepharitis. That being said, my initial forays into the world of dry eye care was not great. If my "corneal specialist", an ophthalmologist at a teaching hospital knew I had blepharitis or MGD, he never told me. 'course he never told me much of anything. I eventually listened really hard when he was mumbling some words to the medical students and interns as he quickly left the exam room. He left me totally uneducated. I still don't know much about what he thought. Even when I asked, after I'd done some research on the DEZ (after I thankfully found it), he just became angry with me that I dare ask him anything. If there's one thing I really really suggest, it's ask the doctor questions, and be as educated as you can. Because of my lack of knowledge, I ended up losing central vision in my other eye because this "great" ophth continued to ignore my reports of loss of central vision in that eye. I thought maybe I had macular degeneration. He kept saying, "there's nothing wrong with your eye". Turns out I had a macular hole. By the time I went to a retinal specialist at another teaching hospital, the damage was permanent. I had to have surgery, but no vision returned. Being informed is our best defense.

Wow that seems really bad. What an idiotic doctor. I think I need to get another diagnosis quick before anything gets worse/permanent.

[icycarol]

I have the same question. My eyelid looked normal, no red or greasy. But when I gently press my meilbomium gland, I can't see any oil comes out. None of my ophthalmologist can tell me I have MSG or not, they always said "most dry eye people have both MSD and aqueous deficciency."