Confused !

[dominorose]

Hi there,

It's me, again! Just a quick question, because I really start to think my main problem is a meibum overproduction (meibomian seborrhea ?).
To be honest, I've been doing warm compresses/lid massages for months, and I've never been able to see any clogged glands. So my question is: is it possible my problem is caused by an overload of oil / poor quality oil ? I just don't understand how it can cause dry eye if my glands are not clogged. I've been told my meibum is too thick, and these days my eyes have been really oily but still sticky : could it be the meibum loosening?

Sources:

A: First, you must differentiate whether the MGD is primarily non-obstructive or obstructive gland disease, says Katherine Mastrota, O.D., M.S., center director of Omni Eye Surgery, in New York.
Non-obstructive MGD. This is characterized by an overproduction of turbid abnormal meibum, which occurs with ocular rosacea. In addition to lid hygiene, an effective treatment is the new Cleeravue-M Convenience Kit (StoneBridge Pharma), which includes 50mg minocycline tablets and SteriLid eyelid cleaner. In addition to its antimicrobial properties, the SteriLid cleaner contains linalool and tea tree oil, which are known to have acaricidal (mite-killing) properties. That is advantageous because sebaceous cell mite infestation (both Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevis) has been associated with MGD and rosacea, Dr. Mastrota says.

Obstructive MGD. The mainstay of treatment for obstructive MGD remains warm compresses followed by lid massage. Also, expressing the glands in the clinic is useful diagnostically and may prove therapeutically beneficial when performed routinely, Dr. Mastrota says. She designed the Mastrota Meibomian Gland Paddle to facilitate in-office gland expression and to be less traumatic to the palpebral conjunctival surface than cotton swabs.

(Source: http://www.revoptom.com/content/d/cornea/c/15495/dnnprintmode/true/?skinsrc=[l]skins/ro2009/pageprint&containersrc=[l]containers/ro2009/simple)

And :

In MGD, the meibomian gland becomes inflamed, and the composition of the secretions is altered. The meibum can become very thick, leading to plugging of the meibomian gland. As well, there can be overproduction of abnormal meibomian gland secretions, leading to meibomian seborrhea. All of these conditions can alter the tear film quality, which results in an unstable tear film.

(Source: http://www.eyeworld.org/article.php?sid=4745)

Am I the only one experiencing this?

Thank you

[dominorose]

LM your inbox is full I can't PM you!

Here's my answer:

Oh LM thx for your mail! Yep Ive tried it, Dr Doan gave it to me, 2x every month for 3 days. I think it is REALLY helping!

What I dont understand is how I can have this meibum overflow without seb derm (in fact, my skin is not really oily, exception for the T zone sometimes)

[littlemermaid]

Is the sticky stuff stinging on the eye surface? Are your eyes feeling more relieved now meibom is moving? There's never been much to see for clogged glands in the mirror, except red-eye and dry eye surface then neovascularisation when it's bad, but it's been good to see when we expressed clear meibom. This must be improvement, don't you think?

[dominorose]

Yes, I want to think it's a huge step!! I prefer sticky meibum to bone dry eyes ) yep it's on the surface, I can feel it's a cool temperature film, but really thick, makes my lids stick when I blink. But today I used drops 4 times maybe, that's a miracle!

By the way, just got my hormone tests results today, but not sure how I can interprete them... The only thing I can say is my oestradiol levels are really low (< 5 ng/l, lower than a menopausal woman level) !!!!