MG probing by Dr ******

[Lucy]

Eye docs have been able to skin our eyes, cut our eyes (PRK), laser our eyes (Lasik) for way more than 10 years now to make it so we "can maybe go without glasses." This is cash up-front, no insurance, big bucks all the way.

How is it possible they have figured out how to mess with our vision like this and they can't figure out how to unclog a meibomian gland? Huh???
There is no good way to fix dry eye, but a few "new" things that cost really big bucks that "may" help some of us. Sorry, but this really p___es me off.
Lucy

[Rebecca Petris]

The proof will be in the pudding as they say. I agree with the doc whose comment was "looking forward to a prospective, randomized double blind study". When I read " Symptom relief is dramatic and immediate" I immediately start having an attitude problem because this is true of so many things that have no lasting benefit whatsoever. Certain recipients of certain surgeries come to mind. Whoops, there's that bad attitude showing up again

[Lucy]

You can tell that Rebecca and I won't be holding our breath. Sorry if I put words in your mouth, Rebecca. You can reprimand me on here. Lucy

[Rebecca Petris]

To be really honest I have no business commenting on the merits & potential of the approach especially considering that (unlike the other participants in the thread) I have not even read the material! So from me, it's a bit of gratuitous raining-on-the-parade due to a couple of things that consistently press my buttons. I hope you guys will continue on with the discussion despite me. Hope is good, and somebody's gotta be among the first to take the plunge after all. Just be careful

[RobLIC]

There are good doctors in our midst who think this procedure brings with it a risk of scarring if the probes poke around in there too deeply. A fellow DEZer recently suggested to me that Dr. ****** should have some of his patients post a testimonial here. Dr. ******? Are you out there reading?

[RobLIC]

Also, if anyone has trouble with the above link, the full video can be found here: http://www.rheinmedical.com/onlinevi...7-6040dvd.html

Concerning the debate about whether there's much difference between this and the forcible gland expression many of our doctors use: Dr. ******'s argument is that no amount of forcible expression will enable you to empty secretions if the duct is obstructed.

It will be very exciting to see how this progresses over the next few months.

[Lucy]

No, Dr. ****** shouldn't have his patients put their "testimonials" on here. Then any eye doc would have the right to do the same. You know the doc will never pick a bad patient or give you the name of a bad turnout for reference checking.

If we turned this into a testimonial board for any doctor. After that, we could line up Lasik/refractive surgery docs to post their successes and totally ignore the ruined eyes of some of us. If I have scarring from punctal plugs, I'm sure it's possible to incur scarring with "probes" of our meibs. Lucy

[Rebecca Petris]

About testimonials

I'm sorry this thread is getting diverted further away from its initial subject again but... I think I need to state where I'm coming from on the subject of testimonials, and if others would like to share any thoughts about how they would like this sort of thing to be handled, please feel free. I totally understand where Lucy's coming from, we've both seen a lot of disheartening stuff over the years, but I still feel a little differently.

I don't actually have any objection to doctors occasionally sending patients here to describe their experiences with a new or infrequently used treatment, even if it's invasive and even if I in my opinionated-ness about invasive surgeries don't happen to be crazy about it. In fact I've occasionally encouraged doctors I'm acquainted with to send a few this way. (Note: Testimonials about products are a different matter. Anybody newly registered who plugs a product and walks away is usually going to find their post removed as spam.)

Often these treatment testimonials are NOT helpful to us as a community (getting people excited over nothing, raising false hopes etc) and at least as frequently, they're not pleasant for the one posting because if they were not already a member, registering just to post a testimonial raises all kinds of red flags and so they may not be well received. And usually when a testimonial is posted, it's somebody in the first throes of excitement over how they feel shortly after the surgery. If as is all too often the case they never come back and update us, we don't have any idea whether it was ultimately successful. In my "ideal world" somebody posting a testimonial about any treatment would be at least a few months into it without any substantial changes to their treatment regimen in the interim, and in the case of an invasive procedure maybe a longer waiting period.

NOTWITHSTANDING all that, there are some treatment areas where any information better than no information to the one who ultimately needs it (probably a tiny percentage of actual readers).

On that basis, I'm willing to take the risks involved in letting people post their experiences freely. They just need to understand they're going to get a lot of questions and the less they share, the less respect they're going to get.

There are many 'niche' problems and 'niche' solutions. What is one person's waste of $10k is another person's changed life. Time and time again I've heard myself say "Really???" on the phone to someone whose condition was finally brought under control by some means I never would have guessed could be helpful. So... information needs to flow, and if it gets a little messy in the process, well, so be it.

[Sabrina]

Proceed with caution is good advice.

However, I am happy that there are Docs. out there that seem to know more about this than the average opthamologist and are continually looking for ways to find out how to give their patients relief vs throwing a box of Restasis at you and sending you on your way.

We can all continue to follow the progress of these procedures. Everything is new at some point. Who knows. Maybe one of these procedures will end up being the breakthrough we are all looking for.

Can you tell I'm having a postive thinking day??

[djb]

My local doctor probed 90% of my upper left lid today with the smallest probe available. Took about an hour. He couldn't probe the lower due to epithelial growth over the lower lid MG orifices. He said he would have to scrape the growth off in order to see the openings to continue probing. Prescribed Azasite, Doxy 20mg pills, Fluorometholone, hot compresses in order to try and keep the probed orifices open. He'll continue the process in four weeks. No improvement with vision yet, but my eye seems more comfortable. I can't tell you if the comfort is from the procedure or all the meds, drops, and gel that have been put into my eyes today. I would equate the procedure to a dentist cleaning the base of your teeth with that scraping tool. There's slight pain, but its tolerable. Hopefully, it will help when he is finished.

Since the inner lining of my eyelid has overgrown the MG orifices, it would seem to me that IPL would not help me unless the doctor removes that growth first. What do you all think???

[Philipp_from_Germany]

I have contacted an (dry eye specialised) Optometrist in my vicinity. He was thrilled by the invention and has ordered the device from Dr. ******. I will undergo this procedure in a few weeks and post an update...

Here is an interesting quote from his response:

"The technique is easy and less and less invasive than unblocking an occluded tear duct, which I do routinely.At last - tools for manually unblocking them. Fed up of expressing them."

I ll keep u guys posted

[irish eyes]

A step in the right direction for Europe !

Don't you think it's odd that it is we patients who have to draw attention to these developments?

No matter. Keep us posted.

[djb]

A step in the right direction for Europe !

Don't you think it's odd that it is we patients who have to draw attention to these developments?

No matter. Keep us posted.

I've introduced probing and IPL to my local doc via email with success. I started by looking up the practice online to see if they had an email address. I sent the info to three practices and only one doctor responded. He is now my eye doctor. I would encourage everyone to use email to keep doctors informed. I guess they have a life outside of the office and the last thing most of them want to do is more work/research after a long day of seeing patients.

[RobLIC]

I went to Tampa this week for MG probing. Five days out, I'm aware of better oil flow in my right eye - let's assume this is more a function of my own physiology, since my left eye is more damaged from surgeries and not prone to a good "coating" anyway.

The probing isn't painful, but it can be startling. As the probe penetrates the gland, you may hear a "pop." Try to imagine poking the edge of a paper clip through a piece of newspaper or Saran wrap. Theoretically, the doctor explains, this is the probe poking through bands of fibrotic nerve tissue; in other cases, it may be poking through keratinized cells of some sort.

I applied for an "in network exception" to my health insurance company, which was approved, and am hoping for significant reimbursal - we'll see, since I've just mailed the forms in. The staff at Dr. ******'s office is really sharp at helping navigate that paperwork.

Rob in Queens

[Philipp_from_Germany]

Hi Rob!

One question: Did ****** assess your tear film stability (TBUT) pre and post probing?