Meibonian Gland Dysfunction
Dry eye is a serious problem, especially when an underlying physical dysfunction is involved. If you suffer from a glandular blockage called meibonian gland dysfunction or MGD, you may find yourself constantly plagued by the redness, itchiness, foreign body sensations and blurred vision associated with dry eye syndrome.
If you’re like most people, you’ve probably never even heard of meibomian glands — and yet this problem is believed to account for 86 percent of all dry eye issues. These tiny glands are arranged in rows inside the upper and lower eyelids. their job is to contribute oils to your tear film, which is made up of an oil layer, a mucous layer and a water layer. Without a sufficient oil layer, the water in tears would evaporate too quickly, leaving the eyes sticky and dry. If the meibonian glands become blocked for any reason, they can’t produce the necessary amount of oil to lubricate and protect the eye. This is MGD.
Dry eye is a serious enough problem in its own right, making the eye more prone to infection and ulceration. In addition to producing dry eye, MGD can also spur the development of blepharitis, a chronic inflammation and irritation of the eyelid. You need to get this problem addressed as soon as possible — and our eye doctor, Dr. Gina Wesley, can diagnose and treat it for you.
How Our MGD Doctor in Medina Diagnoses Dry Eye
Since there are many possible causes of dry eye, from windy environments to autoimmune diseases, our MDG doctor in Medina needs to run some tests to evaluate the meibonian glands’ oil production. One such test measures your tear breakup time. By dying your tear film and studying it under a special light, our eye doctor can see how long it takes for tear film to break up and evaporate — showing us how much (or how little) oil the tear film contains.
A Revolution in Dry Eye Treatment
Traditional treatments for un-blocking the meibonian glands have varied greatly in their convenience, comfort and effectiveness. Warm compresses, eyelid massage, and an invasive technique called meibomian gland probing all have their pluses and minuses. But our Medina optometrist offers a new and vastly improved dry eye treatment technique called LipiFlow.
LipiFlow is a system for relaying heat and light pressure to a disposable eyepiece positioned behind the eyelids, liquifying waxy buildup that may cause MGD and restoring normal oil secretion. This gentle dry eye treatment causes almost no discomfort and can eliminate the cause of your dry eyes within a single 12-minute session.