How To Unclog Meibomian Glands?

Clogged meibomian glands can occur for a number of reasons, resulting in dry, irritated eyes. When your eyes can’t produce enough adequate tears, your eyes can feel incredibly uncomfortable. 

Your meibomian glands are responsible for producing a special oil that prevents your eyes from dehydrating too quickly. When these glands are affected, your eyes are the ones that suffer most.

The best way to address discomfort caused by dry eye symptoms is to visit your optometrist.

How Do Meibomian Glands Become Clogged?

Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is a common eye condition that affects the tiny glands in your eyelids that produce the oil layer of your tears. This oil is called “meibum” and forms one of the 3 layers of your tear film.

Tears are made of water, mucus, and meibum, and this fluid keeps your eyes hydrated. Meibum prevents the water from evaporating too quickly. MGD can occur if there are issues with the oil or the glands.

MGD signs and symptoms are very similar to those of dry eye:

• Itching or burning eyes
• Sensitivity to light
• Redness & watering 
• Foreign body sensation
• Blurry vision 

Causes

MGD most commonly occurs as a result of aging. Studies show that 59% of adults with an average age of 63 had at least one sign of MGD. 

MGD can also occur as a result of an underlying condition, such as dry eye or blepharitis. 

Some other factors, such as wearing contact lenses or makeup, can increase your risk of developing MGD. This is why it’s important to take regular breaks from your contacts and always remove your makeup at night. 

Diagnosis

Your optometrist can diagnose eye conditions like MGD. There are a few things your eye doctor may examine to determine whether or not you have MGD.

Your eye doctor may gently push on your eyelid to test your meibomian glands. This allows your optometrist to see the quality of the oil, a big indicator for MGD. They may also examine your tear film stability and whether or not you have a sufficient amount of tears.

They may perform a tear breakup time test (TBUT) to see how quickly your tears break up, allowing your eye to dry out. This test uses dye on the eye and special light to make your tears glow. This shows the doctor how quickly the tears break up.

What Is Dry Eye?

Dry eye disease is a common eye condition that occurs when tears don’t properly lubricate the eyes. Signs and symptoms of dry eye are identical to the signs and symptoms of MGD, as well as:

• Eye fatigue
• Stringy mucus in/around eyes
• Difficulty with nighttime driving
• Inability to wear contact lenses

Dry eye is uncomfortable and irritable. Many environmental factors can affect dry eye, such as air conditioning or too much screen time. Dry eye almost always occurs as a result of dysfunction in the eye’s ability to produce proper tears, including MGD.

Treatment Options

To unclog the meibomian glands and resolve dry eye, there are a variety of treatments available. If your dry eye symptoms are manageable, you may wish to try some home remedies. 

These home remedies can be beneficial when paired with treatment from your optometrist. They include:

• Applying a warm compress to your lids for 4 – 5 minutes 
• Gently massaging the area (can use compress)
• Scrubbing the lids lightly with diluted cleanser
• Using over-the-counter lipid-containing emulsion drops
• Consuming omega-3 essential fatty acid supplements 

While these remedies can help provide temporary relief, it’s likely you’ll need additional treatment to truly resolve your MGD or dry eye. 

Prescription Eye Drops

Depending on the severity of your MGD, your optometrist may prescribe you medicated eye drops. This includes:

• Steroid drops to help relieve inflammation & increase oil flow
• Restasis eye drops to increase tear production
• Oral Vibramycin (doxycycline) as an antibiotic
• AzaSite (topical ophthalmic azithromycin) as an antibiotic

Intense Pulsed Light Therapy

Intense pulsed light therapy is a light-based, non-invasive treatment for dry eye.  

By using pulses of light, inflammation that is typically associated with dry eye disease is reduced, tear break-up time is improved, and meibomian gland functionality increases. 

This application can significantly relieve dry eye and MGD symptoms.

Other Procedures

There are a variety of treatments available to relieve symptoms of dry eye and MGD, so it’s best to discuss your specific symptoms and needs with your optometrist. 

Some other recommended treatments include:

• Lid debridement 
• LipiFlow
• Scleral lenses
• Punctal plugs

When to See Your Optometrist

If you experience major dry eye symptoms that impact your ability to perform daily tasks, it’s time to see your optometrist. 

MGD and dry eye shouldn’t dictate your life. Contact our team to book an appointment and find relief sooner. 

Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD): Symptoms, Causes, & Treatment

Written by Julie Canter

• What Happens
• Causes
• Symptoms
• Complications
• Diagnosis
• At Home
• Medical Treatment
• More

Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is a common eye condition, yet many people don’t realize they have it. You get it when there’s a problem with a few dozen tiny glands in your eyelids that help make the oil layer of your tears.

These meibomian glands, named after the German doctor who studied them, make an oil called meibum. Meibum, water, and mucus form the three layers of tear film, the fluid that keeps your eyes moist. The oil helps prevent the water layer on the eye surface from evaporating or drying out too quickly.

Changes to the amount or quality of the oil, or to the glands themselves, can lead to MGD. It’s often the result of a combination of things. The most common type, obstructive MGD, happens when the gland openings get clogged, and less and less oil reaches the eye surface.

Your doctor will tailor treatment based on the stage of your MGD as well as any underlying medical condition you have.

Age plays a part; the number of meibomian glands goes down over time. So does your ethnicity; Asian people are about three times more likely to get MGD than people with a European ancestry.

Wearing contact lenses makes you more likely to get it.

Common medical issues linked to MGD are:

• High cholesterol and triglycerides
• Allergic conjunctivitis and other eye diseases
• Inflamed or damaged eyelid or cornea
• Bacterial infection
• Autoimmune diseases like rosacea, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and Sjögren’s syndrome

Some medications can cause problems with oil production, including:

• Estrogen replacement therapy
• Drugs that reduce androgen
• Retinoids, from acne medication to anti-aging creams

In its early stage, you might not have any.

But as MGD progresses and you have less oil or poor-quality oil in your tear film, your eyes may burn, itch, or be irritated or dry. It might feel like you have a grain of sand or dust in your eye. An irritated, inflamed eyelid may be red.

The inner rim of your eyelid looking uneven or rough is a classic sign of MGD, but not everyone has it.

Some people have moments of blurred vision that improves when they blink.

Symptoms can get worse when you’re on the computer for a long time or if the air in your home or office is very dry, either from air conditioning or heating.

MGD is the most common cause of dry eye syndrome (also called dry eye disease). MGD may lead to eyelid inflammation, called blepharitis, especially along the rims.

There’s a lot of overlap among these three conditions, and it’s possible to have them all at once. In fact, experts aren’t entirely sure what comes first, or exactly how they’re connected. It could be that MGD causes inflammation that leads to dry eye, or that inflammation from dry eye could hurt the meibomian glands.

If you’re having eye surgery, untreated MGD raises the chance of getting an infection and inflammation afterward.

In its advanced stage, MGD may lead to cornea disease.

There’s no single thing that can show that you have MGD.

Your eye doctor will look closely at your eyelids to inspect the gland openings. They may press on your eyelids to squeeze oil out.

The Schirmer’s test checks if you make enough tears. Other tests can measure the quality of your meibum and how fast your tears evaporate.

The combination of results can lead to a diagnosis of MGD.

Early on, self-care might be all you need.

Put a warm, wet washcloth or heat pack over your eyelids for 5 minutes, twice a day, to help loosen the oil. Follow this with a light fingertip massage. For the upper lid, look down and very gently roll one side of your index finger from the top of your eyelid down to the lash line. For the lower lid, look up at the ceiling and roll your finger up to the lash line.

To help unblock gland openings, clean with a non-soap cleanser once a day. Dab it on a warm, wet washcloth and gently go along your upper and lower lash lines.

Use a humidifier to counter the drying effects of air conditioning and indoor heating.

If you wear contacts, daily disposable lenses that are the “water gradient” type may be more comfortable.

Avoid your eye area completely when you use beauty products with retinoids.

Check with your doctor about taking omega-3 fatty acid supplements. They have anti-inflammatory properties and may boost the quality of your meibum.

For more advanced MGD and depending on what other health issues you have, your doctor may add medications to your care plan:

• Lubricants
• Antibiotics for infections
• Cyclosporine to suppress your immune system
• Steroids that help ease inflammation

These could be eye drops or spray, creams, or pills.

In the office, your doctor may use devices that send heat or pulsed light to open blocked meibomian glands and improve symptoms.

It’s important to stick with your treatment, especially home care, to reverse MGD or keep it from getting worse.

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Dacryocystitis in newborns – treatment of obstruction and washing of the lacrimal canal in newborns and infants in Samara in the Samara Ophthalmological Clinic

Dacryocystitis of newborns is an inflammatory disease that develops due to impaired patency of the nasolacrimal canal. The tear ducts connect the inner corners of the eyelids to the nasal cavity. Normally, they should carry out the outflow of tears. With obstruction of the lacrimal ducts, fluid stagnates in the eyes, which leads to the occurrence of infectious processes and inflammation. One of the effective ways to treat dacryocystitis in newborns is to wash the lacrimal canal in children.

Etiology of neonatal dacryocystitis

At the stage of embryonic development, the lumen of the nasolacrimal ducts is filled with a gelatinous plug, and the outlet is closed with a membrane. In the last weeks of a woman’s pregnancy, the gelatinous mucus in the fetus dissolves, and at the first cry of the newborn, the closing membrane breaks, and the nasolacrimal ducts begin to function normally. But in some babies, there is a violation of the patency of the lacrimal canals. In ophthalmology, the following causes of this pathological condition are distinguished:

• congenital anomalies or damage to the lacrimal ducts due to injuries and surgical interventions, as a result of which it becomes impossible to drain the secretion of the lacrimal glands into the nasal cavity;
• non-resorbable gelatinous plug in neonates;
• preserved membranous septum at the exit of one or both lacrimal canals.

Dacryocystitis of newborns is quite rare – an average of 7% of infants, of which only 10% have bilateral pathology.

Symptoms of obstruction of the nasolacrimal duct in a newborn

The disease can occur in acute or chronic form. The main manifestations of the disease are lacrimation, as well as purulent or mucous discharge from the eye of a newborn. As a rule, parents can notice them on the 8-10th day of the baby’s life. The pus and mucus usually cause the eyelashes to stick together and become crusty. A feature that distinguishes dacryocystitis of newborns from inflammation of the conjunctival membrane (conjunctivitis) is swelling in the lower eyelid, when pressed, pus is released from the lacrimal punctum of the affected eye.
In the acute course of the disease, the clinical picture is more pronounced:

• Profuse discharge of tears and pus.
• Redness and swelling extends not only to the lower, but also to the upper eyelid, the palpebral fissure narrows.
• When pressure is applied to the swelling in the corner of the eye, pus appears, pain sensations appear, to which the child reacts with a sharp cry.
• Often associated with fever.

Without a timely visit to a doctor, an abscess is formed in the area of ​​​​the inflamed lacrimal sac, which can open spontaneously. In severe cases, a fistula is formed, from which pus comes out from time to time. When the infection spreads to the surrounding soft tissues, phlegmon can form – an acute purulent inflammation, the consequences of which pose a serious danger not only to health, but also to the life of the child. There is a high risk of blood poisoning, the spread of the inflammatory process to the cornea, ear, maxillary sinuses, and the lining of the brain.

Diagnosis of dacryocystitis

In some infants, the disease is due to the presence of a gelatinous mass in the lacrimal canaliculus. In most of these cases, the cork resolves on its own, and recovery occurs after 4-6 days. However, if after this period the symptoms do not go away, or there is an acute course, repeated cases of the disease, then the mother should immediately take a referral to an ophthalmologist for diagnosis. It is carried out using the following methods:

• West’s test, which consists in instillation of the eye with a solution of collargol, followed by control of its appearance in the nasal passage with a cotton swab.
• Passive tear-nasal test or lacrimal duct lavage in children.
• Diagnostic probing of the nasolacrimal canaliculus.
• Bacteriological analysis of discharge from the eye to determine the type of pathogenic microorganisms in order to select effective antibiotics for therapy.
• If necessary, hardware research methods can also be used – ultrasound, MRI.

The Samara Ophthalmological Clinic employs the best pediatric ophthalmologists who have completed training in leading medical centers in Moscow. We use modern diagnostic tools that allow us to establish the cause of neonatal dacryocystitis and achieve high treatment efficiency.

Treatment of neonatal dacryocystitis

Treatment depends on the diagnosis, which can be both conservative and surgical. Drug therapy is aimed at cleaning the lacrimal canal from infection and relieving inflammation. As the main medicines, eye drops are used – antiseptics (solutions of collargol, furacilin), as well as substances with an antibacterial effect (Tobrex, Vitabact, etc.). Eye instillation is combined with light movements of a special massage, which makes it possible to eliminate blockage of the nasolacrimal ducts. From home remedies, you can use washing the nasal passages with a decoction of chamomile.

Conservative methods also include probing and washing the lacrimal canal in children – procedures to restore the patency of a clogged duct with a probe. If conservative treatment does not work, then dacryocystorhinostomy is used – the formation of a new nasolacrimal canal using endoscopic surgery. The best prevention of severe complications of dacryocystitis is a timely visit to a doctor and a course of treatment.

Author: Moiseeva Natalya Viktorovna, ophthalmologist

Buzzer and oil pressure light.

I draw your attention to the fact that the article is located in the section of cars of the old years of manufacture Golf 2, Golf 3, etc.), and is relevant specifically for them 🙂

One of the most frequently asked questions on most forums of VW owners is about buzzer and oil pressure light. Let’s turn first to the official sources

and now – in our own words 🙂

Most VW cars have a dual emergency oil pressure warning system. The first makes a report on the presence or absence of pressure as such. Sensor threshold 0.15/0.35 bar . (when this pressure is exceeded, the sensor opens the circuit). Usually, the oil pump can provide this pressure even when the crankshaft is rotated by the starter. This circuit is not associated with the buzzer. The second circuit takes measurements at speeds close to 2000 and above. That is, when the speed increases and the specified threshold is passed, the allowable and actual pressure are compared, and if it is below the critical level ( 1. 6 / 2.0 bar), the light comes on and a nasty buzzer buzzes. The sensor works on the CLOSE of the circuit) And this will happen until a new measurement is made, with satisfactory parameters. That is, until again at a speed of 2000 and above, the pressure does not become higher than the permissible minimum.

Consider a common situation: during heavy traffic with frequently changing speeds, or during a long straight line at high speed, at some point the sensor lights up and the buzzer sounds. The first natural reaction of a driver is to stop, turn off the engine and check the oil level. After that, the motor starts again, and with surprise it turns out that there is no more alarm. In fact, everything is banal. During prolonged operation, the oil naturally heats up and liquefies, which cannot but affect the pressure created. Its value approaches the minimum allowable, the high pressure circuit is activated. After the engine stops, the oil completely drains into the sump and even has time to cool slightly. Not much, but enough to exceed the minimum tolerance.

However, it would be a big mistake to ignore this case. That’s what VW is good for, because it allows you to identify the problem in the bud, before the occurrence of serious and costly consequences to eliminate.

The fault may be in the electrical circuit itself, but it is naive to believe that the pressure sensor is the only culprit. Of course, the test must begin with the electrical circuit. Usually the “glitches” of electricians are unsystematic, the alarm starts at any moment, at any speed. But if systematicity can be traced in the operation, that is, a connection with high speed, or warm weather, or a long ride, then you can not even touch the wires.

The next step in troubleshooting is to measure the pressure with a mechanical pressure gauge. It is not necessary to contact the service or buy professional equipment, you can make a pressure gauge yourself

Hose from Golf2 or 3, front

It must be screwed into the extreme point of the oil channel, for example, instead of the sensor in the block head. You also need to remember that the difference in pressure between a warm and cold engine is very large, so it is advisable to start on a cold engine, then warm it up properly. At a minimum, after waiting for several turns on / off of the fan, it is even better to turn it off for a short time. The pressure drop as it warms up will also be indicative. And warming up properly, pay attention to the pressure at idle, at 2000 rpm and at maximum (reasonable limits). Different motors have their own tolerances, for the most common 1.6 / 1.8 ( G2 / G3 / Trade winds V3 / V4 ) the values ​​\u200b\u200bof 04 / 0.5 – 1 .9 / 2 can be considered satisfactory, 1 – 3.5 / 4.5 (this is from practice. In controversial issues, I recommend referring to the technical literature).

There can be several reasons for insufficient pressure. For example, an ajar oil pump pressure reducing valve, or a loss of its (pump) performance. Or maybe the mesh of the oil intake 9 is clogged0003

With a working pump, pressure may be lost in the system itself, due to worn parts of the crankshaft.

Here, by the way, the following technology can help: measuring with two pressure gauges screwed in instead of both sensors, one of which is usually located on the oil filter mounting bracket, and the second in the block head. Based on the difference in readings, it will be possible to make a preliminary diagnosis: if the arrows move synchronously, with a slight lag, but the pressure is low, the pump is most likely to blame, but a significant difference between the “upper” and “lower” pressure will indicate a loss of pressure in the KShM.

All these sacraments can’t really be called an accurate diagnosis, but they allow you to understand in which direction to move forward. If mechanical pressure gauges show that everything is in order with the electrician, and there is cause for concern, it would be more correct to contact motorists for a deeper study of the motor.

It must be remembered that one should not limit oneself to the struggle only with the fact of low pressure.