So what is meibomian gland dysfunction? and how is it related to what causes dry eyes?
Well in this video, I'm going to be explaining meibomian gland disease so that you can better
take care of your eyes and hopefully improve and prevent dry eye symptoms.
So let's tale a look.
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Hey everyone this is Dr. Joe Allen here from Doctor Eye Health the channel that helps you
with the eyes, vision, and finding the best vision products.
So if your new here and your someone who values having healthy eyes and good eyesight then
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So chances are if your watching this video you have been told that the oil glands on
your eyelids are blocked or clogged and no longer secreting properly.
Or your trying to figure out what causes dry eyes.
Well these oil glands on your eyelid we call the meibomain glands and when they are not
secreting properly, we call that meibomian gland dysfunction.
And its one of the most major contributing factors to evaporative dry eye eye disease
which accounts for over 70% of all dry eye.
These glands run vertically on both the bottom and the top portion of your eyelids and if
you look in the mirror and look at your lids you just might be able to see them.
But when these oil glands are healthy, they actually secrete a little bit of oil on every
complete blink and that oil mixes with the liquid portion of your tears and helps prevent
them from evaporating.
And when these meibomian glands are not producing enough oil.
Or if the oil coming out is a very poor quality then of course the tears will evaporative
very fast and that's what we call meibmian gland disease.
So if your somebody who has dry eye symptoms where your eyes could be red, feeling gritty,
sandy, maybe your tearing occasionally or that your vision is fluctuating- especially
when looking up close on your phone, computer or while reading a book.
Then chances are you have some form of evaporative dry eye and its probably related to meibomian
gland dysfunction.
The big issue with these clogged glands is that in the early stages people are completely
asymptomatic and if these glands remain clogged and completely blocked up then these oil glands
can eventually die off and when they are dead, you can;t get them back.
And without the oil glands there to protect the tears from evaporating, treatment for
dry eye disease becomes extremely difficult.
And that's why its so important to see your eye doctor regularly so they can detect MGD
and treat it before it becomes a problem.
Now there's multiple strategies for meibomian gland dysfunction treatment.
But they mainly involve reducing inflammation and getting those thickened oils to secrete
out the glands so the glands can start producing healthy oils again.
Your doctor can offer you treatments with oral medications such as doxycycline or azythromycin.
They may even offer you in office treatments such as the Lipiflow or Ilux device.
Or they can do manual gland expression.
Basically using a little tweezers to individually pop those oil glands open.
But thats something you need to let your doctor do.
Don't try to do that yourself, you could actually end up hurting your eyes.
Sometimes even conservative treatments by taking omega 3 supplements, doing frequent
warm compresses and eyelid massage can help with meibomain gland expression as well.
But hey if your worried that you may have evaporative dry eye disease from meibomian
gland dysfunction.
Make sure to talk with your doctor about the best treatment strategies for you.
But no matter what just make sure that you are performing good eyelid hygiene because
thats a way you can help prevent this from getting worse or becoming a problem in the
first place.
So eye health question of the day.
What meibomain gland dysfunction treatments are working for you?
Are you doing the lipiflow device in the office?
Are you taking medications?
Or are you just taking Omega 3 supplements and doing warm compresses?
Comment in the section below and let us know what's working for you.
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Again this is dr joe allen here from doctor eye health, the channel that helps you with
the eyes, vision, and finding the best vision products.
Keep an eye on it - we'll talk to you soon.