Are you always able to see that these oil producing glands are blocked? My doctor says most of mine are - yet I've seen pictures on the internet of this and mine dont look like that.

I also dont get the 'crusting' people talk about in the mornings - well only a very minimal amount, hardly noticeable.

Thanks.

Did your doc try to express oil?

My glands are not "blocked" but they are producing thick oils, which causes me a problem. When I press my eyelid I can see small droplets on the lid margin.

Please take your doctor serious and do all you can to correct the problem now before it becomes a full fledge case of Blepharitis which takes a few years to clear. Took about 1 years for me.

Uusally hot soaks twice a day along with eyelid scrubs using Johnson's Baby Shampoo diluted in water, using a cotton cosmetic pad will go a long ways in opening the oil glands and keeping them flowing normally.

Follow your doctor's orders an don't let this get ahead of you.

Misty

Yes he did express some oil from the glands but I dont think it was like oil - very thick and not much good. He said this was the case with most of them.

My lower eyelids get inflamed but I dont get the stickiness in the morning - I dont wake up with my eyelids stuck together and this is what confuses me. As most people talk about having this. Im not saying I dont believe the doctor - Im just wondering if there are different types of blockages that occur. Eg mine seem to be deeper down as I dont have those 'caps' that is referred to a lot.

The heat from the compresses seems to be making the inflammation worse too. It feels like Im doing my eyes more harm at the moment and the eyelids feel quite sore (not flaky though).

Thanks.

How long have you been doing the compresses? And how are you doing them? Warm compresses used to really make my eyes feel bad, but over time they really worked - I have had "thick" secretions but the compreses strated to cause clear runny fluid to almost gush out. Doxycycline also seemed to affect the oil glands in a positive way.

Ive only been doing the compresses for two weeks so obviously I need to give it longer - how long had you done them for before you saw an improvement?

Its just that my eyes are really sensitive at the moment and it feels like its burning my eyes. I heard you have to get them quite hot though for it to work best. Its really irritating the skin which is adding to the discomfort I already have from the dryness.

I use a wheat bag heated up in the microwave with a glass of water so its not too dry. I do this for as long as it stays warm which is between 5-10mins. twice a day.

I have been on doxycycline for months without any real improvement but not with the compresses at the same time.

I keep reading that the oil should be thinner after a couple of weeks doing the compresses but from what Ive read on here - it can take much longer than that?

Thanks.

Took me maybe a month before I noticed gradual improvement. How long do your eyes get irritated after the compress? Seems you may have very sensitive eyes?

They feel worse straight after dong it because of the heat - but they look red all the time and feel 'full'.

Do your eyelids get red - or just your eyes?

Thanks

By using the wheat bag, you may be burning your eyes. I never liked the bags for other areas due to them being intensly hot after applying to an area of the body. Microwave heat is probably not the best to use on the eyes.

I use a thick washcloth soaking wet in hot faucet water, lightly squeese some of the excess water out and hold on eyes (eyes closed) until it needs to be heated again. Don't use water hot enough to burn, need it very warm to hot. Do the soak for 10-15 minutes each time.

May this is what I have. My eyelids are red all the time, my eyes hurt and they are crusty in the morning. I have an appointment to see the eye doctor next week but this has been on going for a while, about 6 months now. They seem to be getting worse. Is it dry eye? Are there drops that will help? I've tried bion tears and it does help a bit but it doesn't go away.

My eyelids don't crust, don't look red on the outsie at least, and don't itch unless I irritate them by overwashing them.
What I do have is a small whithish or creamy looking dot (around 1 milimiter in diameter) inside my left lower eyelid, close to the lid margin but not on it. I have to similar things on my right lower eyelid. The first one I've it for more than 1 year, and the other too, seem to have grown since I started the warm compresses.
When I first so those tiny things I thought it was just milia, since I do have some white milia around the eye.
But then my eyes started to get dry, so much that I had to stop using my contacts. When I went to the doctor he gave a paper with cleansing struction for my eyes, but he failed to tell me what exactly was wrong with me. I did the scrubbing and the warm compresses but then since I thought "i don't have infection, my eyes don't have any yukky thing coming out of them, i just have dry eyes". So i stopped doing that.
eventually my eyes got better, or just I got used to the dryness. But now, years have passed, and my eyes got drier. Doing some research I realized that maybe what the doctor thought I had was meibomian gland dysfunction. Since I've been doing the warm compresses and the cleansing, my eyes seem less dry. I've doing the expressing thing to get oil out of the gland, but I don't get a lot, just what look like tiny water dropplets on the eyelid, and not that much.
Do you know a good way to express oil. What I being doing is sort of pinching my eyelid so I get some oil express. It's not thick, it looks like water drops.
What i use for compresses: uncocked rice inside some sort of pockets my mom made using a piece of fabric. I seat to "watch" tv, and with an iron (with steam) and a towel, I put the pockets under it, I steammed, i test to see if they're hot enough and i put them on my eyes. When one guess cold, i just put it under the iron again.
You could also use black tea bags and hot water. You pour hot water on the tea bags, and take them out, test for temperature and put it on your eyes. When they get cold just put them inside the bowl again and wait till they get warm. Put it on your eyes. BLACK TEA should be used, since this is good for fighting infections too. Then do the lid massage and express the oil, and wash your eyes.
HOW DO YOU EXPRESS THE OIL FROM THE BLOCKED GLANDS. I need to know to see if i'm doing it right.
thanks.