meibomian glands

[Daniel2]

Hi everyone, my name is Daniel and I'm a new poster in here.

Just a little bit of bacground, I have been suffering with dry eye for the past year, I'd say it has been worse each week to the point where it's sometimes absolutely unbearable. I decided to visit and opthalmologist already some some time ago and he told me that I had just 7-8 meibomian glands working on each lower lid and all the other ones were dead.
He also seemed visibly worried and told me that I had the 'eyes of a 60 year old'. This really made me panic considering I'm just 24 years old. He told me that Lipiflow would be the best treatment possible but the price is insanely expensive since the insurance doesn't cover it.

My question is what is the regular amount of functioning meibomian glands that a person my age should have. And if 7-8 glands is as worrying to have as my doctor told me?

My last question is, considering whenever I use my laptop or any computer my eyes start burning so much, what are the best ways to use a computer and reduce this burning sensations that has become extremely unbearable for me? It becomes worse whenever I use a computer and I have tried every type of eye drops but they just work for 5-6 seconds and they it's back to being dry again. I had tried heat compression but that doesn't work either. I'm very worried since as a Electrical Engineering student and eventually a professional I'll have to use the computer pretty much the whole day.

Thanks a lot, and I'm glad I found this site.

[Rebecca Petris]

Hi everyone, my name is Daniel and I'm a new poster in here.

Just a little bit of bacground, I have been suffering with dry eye for the past year, I'd say it has been worse each week to the point where it's sometimes absolutely unbearable. I decided to visit and opthalmologist already some some time ago and he told me that I had just 7-8 meibomian glands working on each lower lid and all the other ones were dead.
He also seemed visibly worried and told me that I had the 'eyes of a 60 year old'. This really made me panic considering I'm just 24 years old.

Don't panic Awful lot of people out there with a relatively few functioning MGs that are doing just fine, no matter their age. Shame on your doc for worrying you so. Might not hurt to get a 2nd opinion on the state of those 'other' glands. I've known people who were told their glands were atrophied but... someone with more expertise was able to put them on a treatment plan that coaxed some life back into them. Not saying your doctor is wrong, just, before you give up hope on them as atrophied, make sure you're sure.

He told me that Lipiflow would be the best treatment possible but the price is insanely expensive since the insurance doesn't cover it.

Have you had any other MGD treatments yet? I would only use Lipiflow if all the other standard treatments fail. There's warm compresses and massage, there's topical and oral antibiotics.... And these things take time and patience.

My question is what is the regular amount of functioning meibomian glands that a person my age should have. And if 7-8 glands is as worrying to have as my doctor told me?

I don't know offhand. I know there's at least one study out there examining MG function by decade of life and I remember being surprised - and encouraged! - that it's relatively normal to have already lost quite a few. But, i'm struggling with computer use myself right now and the first study I pulled up listed almost entirely people from their 50s through 80s. If you can you might do some more searching. But just by way of encouragement, I know a lot of people whose MGs were completely fried by cancer treatments or other causes and who still have their eyes under good control. So not to worry, just know it may take some work and patience.

My last question is, considering whenever I use my laptop or any computer my eyes start burning so much, what are the best ways to use a computer and reduce this burning sensations that has become extremely unbearable for me?

1. GET MOISTURE CHAMBER GLASSES. A must for ANYONE who describes it as unbearable.
2. Make sure your screen is positioned as low as possible. Looking straight out or up = serious no-no. You want to minimize the ocular surface area exposed to excessive tear evaporation.
3. Post notes for yourself to remember to blink much more frequently. If you're on a Mac, you can put one of these on a sticky note and drag it to a corner of your screen.
4. Install justgetflux.com.
5. DON'T SPEND MORE TIME ON THIS SITE THAN NECESSARY! It can hurt your eyes and your morale as you get a skewed perspective when you spend too much time with people who are in dry eye crisis. It's important to know that people can and do get better all the time.
6. Cold compresses. Can be as simple as a bag of frozen peas or as expensive as Tranquileyes XR with thermoeyes beads (very nice product, can be used for warm or cold).