Is Blephasteam worth it?

[deep_dry_eye]

deep_dry_eye

I did lipiflow and IPL x3 back in January and February. My glands still got blocked after.
I'm on ikervis (restatsis equivalent) since February which is about 5 months now and it has somewhat increased my tears (i had bad aqueous deficiency and MGD).

I thought ikervis was to increase tears rather than help the oils flow better?

The theory is that MGD is caused by inflammation (e.g., your own immune system attacking the tear glands). cyclosporine (ikervis/restasis) and lifitegrast (xiidra) are immunosuppressant drugs. they act differently so they can be used together to be more effective. the theory is that they suppress your immune system locally, and reduce inflammation to give a chance for your body and glands to recover and hopefully secrete better quality oil.

IPL somehow has similar affect as well, it somehow stimulates the oil glands to produce better quality oils and reduce inflammation. the exact mechanism of action is unknown.

did you find IPL helpful? i would suggest if you found IPL helpful to continue on that in conjunction of ikervis. it took 6+ sessions of IPL for me to notice a difference, and for awhile i was doing monthly IPL.

[orange86]

deep_dry_eye

I did lipiflow and IPL x3 back in January and February. My glands still got blocked after.
I'm on ikervis (restatsis equivalent) since February which is about 5 months now and it has somewhat increased my tears (i had bad aqueous deficiency and MGD).

I thought ikervis was to increase tears rather than help the oils flow better?

[deep_dry_eye]

deep_dry_eye have you used the goggles?

i do warm compress morning and night and my glands still are blocked.

yes i have, and i ended up giving them away to someone else in this forum.

yes, warm compress alone isn't sufficient to unblock your glands. the problem is, if your glands are producing thick secretions, they will remain blocked after warm compress is over.

are you on xiidra/restasis/IPL? i really find IPL and the mixture of both xiidra/restasis can thin out the oils. the goal is to get the glands to produce good quality oils again.

[alex123711]

I also have the blephasteam and find they are better/ easier than warm compresses, not too sure why but I think the direct contact of compressions causes some inflammation for me.

[orange86]

I personally think the goggles are a scam, warm compress via microwave is more effective.

deep_dry_eye have you used the goggles?

i do warm compress morning and night and my glands still are blocked.

[deep_dry_eye]

SAAG are the Blephasteam goggles still working for you?

I did lipiflow and IPL, my glands clogged back up again. do these goggles help hardened oils soften ?

I personally think the goggles are a scam, warm compress via microwave is more effective.

[orange86]

SAAG are the Blephasteam goggles still working for you?

I did lipiflow and IPL, my glands clogged back up again. do these goggles help hardened oils soften ?

Conair Facial Steamer is great for MGD, clogged pores and stuffy noses. It is $24.99 on Amazon.

Definitely worth considering. In my case, I'd develop a chronic bad cough from steamers that caused me to breath in the steam directly like that on a daily basis... but if one doesn't run into that problem, this looks like a cool product to try. Before investing in something pricier like Blephasteam, maybe try Taryn's suggestion woodart .

[TARYN]

Conair Facial Steamer is great for MGD, clogged pores and stuffy noses. It is $24.99 on Amazon.

My understanding is that it is not approved as a medical device in the US, therefore possible legal issues around shipping it there.

If you did get one, you would only need a plug adapter - not a transformer. The device accepts input voltage 100V-240V.

I agree with Meibum Ian . This is what the plug says:

AC/DC adaptor
Type: FW7333SM/09
Input: 100V~ - 240V~ [My note >> notice the tilde "~" symbol, which can mean "approximately"]
50Hz - 60Hz / 200-80mA
Output: 9V / 800mA [ My note >> the "9V" is immediately followed by a "-" with 3 dots under it ... this is BEFORE the "/"... I have no idea what this symbol means though]

You should be able to buy a UK-US plug adaptor in any travel supply store, or on Amazon.

[Meibum Ian]

My understanding is that it is not approved as a medical device in the US, therefore possible legal issues around shipping it there.

If you did get one, you would only need a plug adapter - not a transformer. The device accepts input voltage 100V-240V.

[woodart]

I just looked on Amazon US and they are $600. Not in my budget right now. Unless a good one is made by another company. Or buy from England get an adapter? £200.00 which is almost $230 which is half.

[rockomon]

How do you buy blephasteam, if you live in the US?

[Rebecca Petris]

SAAG Ew! Thank you SO much for the heads up. Deleted and banned.

[Alix]

@SAAG Thank you for flagging this, I tried to as well, but it didn't work.

I agree Fairpricerx looks shady, he asked me about getting hold of Ikervis in the UK, to which I replied, but I checked his profile afterwards and he is based in California?! And Blephasteam isn't even a medicine. Total timewaster. Really annoyed!