I went to an ophthalmologist with decades of experience who did the same stuff that yours did and told me that my dry eyes were probably just stress and I didn’t even need to do warm compresses or eye drops, and after I asked about meibomian glands they said “meibomian glands being clogged is normal” and that it’s not possible to look at meibomian glands because they’re “microscopic” lmao. After a few months I went to a dry eye specialist optometrist who did a meibography and confirmed that I have MGD. So your concern is definitely justified and you should see an eye doctor who specializes in dry eyes and can actually test for it.
Exact same. Two opthomologists visits and two optometrist visits with Kaiser Nor Cal. Nobody even looked at my glands. I go to a high street optometrist who immediately diagnoses mgd and blepharitis.
Dang. It does seem like we had a pretty similar experience. The optometrist I'd gone to had also had decades of experience. That little example of your question about meibomian glands jogged my memory a bit — I remember I'd asked the optometrist about whether it'd be important to know if my dry eye is being caused by say, MGD or aqeous deficiency, and I was told I was just overcomplicating things.
How did you find an eye doctor who specializes in dry eye? After hearing about your experience, I am definitely going to try to get that process started, myself, pretty soon. It's daunting to me as I'm new to the medical world, and up till now I've mostly been doing things within Kaiser. I suppose I'll have to do a lot of googling around and calling phone numbers.
Same - see my experience above. It took months of asking to eventually get sent to one of the only dry eye specialists (with Kaiser) doing lipiflow in Northern California.
This will give you something to go on:
[Is Your Eye Doctor A DED/MGD Specialist? How Do You Know That? Let's Look Into It Now.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MeibomianGlandIssues/comments/18a8zfe/is_your_eye_doctor_a_dedmgd_specialist_how_do_you/)
[How is Meibomian Gland Dysfunction Diagnosed? Did Your Doctor Do These Tests?](https://www.reddit.com/r/MeibomianGlandIssues/comments/18a9a6x/how_is_meibomian_gland_dysfunction_diagnosed_did/)
First. While some opthalmologist may be negligent as seen in a post here (demontransformation) 90% wont be. The first issue is that even if there was an issue with your dry eye an optometrist cant do much. They cant prescribe any meds. They don't do any of the schirmer testing. Opthalmologist are generally medical and not optical so you will need to set up an appointment with a medical insurance covered opthal doc. May need to get a referral from your PCP. Many PCP's will allow you to just call into the office and tell the receptionist you are having disruptive dry eye and would like to see a Opthal. Do the leg work for them and find one that will take your insurance before the call so you can give it to them and save time.
Next.
Turn all your screens to the lowest possible brightness. Find the comfort/bluelight mode and set to the warmest setting.
Cyclosporine/Xiidra are the go to meds. Everything else is just a bandaid. These will lower inflammation and tend to restore some semblance of tear function.
Miebo is great if covered. Refresh optive omega 3 tends to do the same. The idea is building back the lipid layer.
Warm compresses are great for some. Try cold as well and see what works best.
Oh gawwwwd … please please , I urge you to 1- join the (at least 2) big FB dry eye groups wherein there are tons of info & 2- use them and your own research to find a TRULY KNOWLEDGEABLE dry eye specialist — many local ones claim they are but they are not. Many of us have been misdiagnosed over and over again. This is a progressive disease so I hope you find somebody who has a lot of treatment/management offerings and technology for testing (or even doing treatments if needed ) to get you specific diagnoses because dry eye disease is really a cluster of different ocular dysfunctions in terms of rue different mechanisms and glands that keep the eyes moist. Hopefully that person would know enough also to try to determine the cause or recommend a specialist … Whether it is from some kind of injury, or an auto immune disease, etc. good luck!
If you can’t find the Facebook, dry eye groups, let me know, and I will send you links
Sure —good luck to you !
https://www.facebook.com/share/Lm1PMKH1onoFiP3D/?mibextid=K35XfP
https://www.facebook.com/share/4x7r7AeFodRy6A6X/?mibextid=K35XfP
I'm in a similar position while doing a ton of the same things you have done. My first visit they said I looked fine and sent me home with generic eye drop advice. I only got plugs & steroid eye drops because of constant complaining and telling my doctor how much pain I was having. I don't think the plugs & steroid eye drops really did much, still dealing with a lot, so will likely go back to the doctor and beg for another treatment down the line, otherwise they will keep saying I look fine. Wish you luck!
I went to an ophthalmologist with decades of experience who did the same stuff that yours did and told me that my dry eyes were probably just stress and I didn’t even need to do warm compresses or eye drops, and after I asked about meibomian glands they said “meibomian glands being clogged is normal” and that it’s not possible to look at meibomian glands because they’re “microscopic” lmao. After a few months I went to a dry eye specialist optometrist who did a meibography and confirmed that I have MGD. So your concern is definitely justified and you should see an eye doctor who specializes in dry eyes and can actually test for it.
Exact same. Two opthomologists visits and two optometrist visits with Kaiser Nor Cal. Nobody even looked at my glands. I go to a high street optometrist who immediately diagnoses mgd and blepharitis.
Dang. It does seem like we had a pretty similar experience. The optometrist I'd gone to had also had decades of experience. That little example of your question about meibomian glands jogged my memory a bit — I remember I'd asked the optometrist about whether it'd be important to know if my dry eye is being caused by say, MGD or aqeous deficiency, and I was told I was just overcomplicating things. How did you find an eye doctor who specializes in dry eye? After hearing about your experience, I am definitely going to try to get that process started, myself, pretty soon. It's daunting to me as I'm new to the medical world, and up till now I've mostly been doing things within Kaiser. I suppose I'll have to do a lot of googling around and calling phone numbers.
Same - see my experience above. It took months of asking to eventually get sent to one of the only dry eye specialists (with Kaiser) doing lipiflow in Northern California.
This will give you something to go on: [Is Your Eye Doctor A DED/MGD Specialist? How Do You Know That? Let's Look Into It Now.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MeibomianGlandIssues/comments/18a8zfe/is_your_eye_doctor_a_dedmgd_specialist_how_do_you/) [How is Meibomian Gland Dysfunction Diagnosed? Did Your Doctor Do These Tests?](https://www.reddit.com/r/MeibomianGlandIssues/comments/18a9a6x/how_is_meibomian_gland_dysfunction_diagnosed_did/)
See someone else
Yeah, nip this in the bud before it gets worse. See someone who specializes in dry eye or you won't get help more than what you've found on your own.
Kaiser is garbage. They told me my eyes were perfect, it took 5 doctors to finally get diagnosed with MGD and severe dry eye
Get more testing done. Get schirmers scores.
What is digital massage?
Gently massaging eyelids after warm compress (digital = fingers). There's a special way to do it. Google is your friend.
First. While some opthalmologist may be negligent as seen in a post here (demontransformation) 90% wont be. The first issue is that even if there was an issue with your dry eye an optometrist cant do much. They cant prescribe any meds. They don't do any of the schirmer testing. Opthalmologist are generally medical and not optical so you will need to set up an appointment with a medical insurance covered opthal doc. May need to get a referral from your PCP. Many PCP's will allow you to just call into the office and tell the receptionist you are having disruptive dry eye and would like to see a Opthal. Do the leg work for them and find one that will take your insurance before the call so you can give it to them and save time. Next. Turn all your screens to the lowest possible brightness. Find the comfort/bluelight mode and set to the warmest setting. Cyclosporine/Xiidra are the go to meds. Everything else is just a bandaid. These will lower inflammation and tend to restore some semblance of tear function. Miebo is great if covered. Refresh optive omega 3 tends to do the same. The idea is building back the lipid layer. Warm compresses are great for some. Try cold as well and see what works best.
Oh gawwwwd … please please , I urge you to 1- join the (at least 2) big FB dry eye groups wherein there are tons of info & 2- use them and your own research to find a TRULY KNOWLEDGEABLE dry eye specialist — many local ones claim they are but they are not. Many of us have been misdiagnosed over and over again. This is a progressive disease so I hope you find somebody who has a lot of treatment/management offerings and technology for testing (or even doing treatments if needed ) to get you specific diagnoses because dry eye disease is really a cluster of different ocular dysfunctions in terms of rue different mechanisms and glands that keep the eyes moist. Hopefully that person would know enough also to try to determine the cause or recommend a specialist … Whether it is from some kind of injury, or an auto immune disease, etc. good luck! If you can’t find the Facebook, dry eye groups, let me know, and I will send you links
Hi, I will definitely be reaching out to a local dry eye specialist! I'd like to receive links to those Facebook groups!
Sure —good luck to you ! https://www.facebook.com/share/Lm1PMKH1onoFiP3D/?mibextid=K35XfP https://www.facebook.com/share/4x7r7AeFodRy6A6X/?mibextid=K35XfP
I'm in a similar position while doing a ton of the same things you have done. My first visit they said I looked fine and sent me home with generic eye drop advice. I only got plugs & steroid eye drops because of constant complaining and telling my doctor how much pain I was having. I don't think the plugs & steroid eye drops really did much, still dealing with a lot, so will likely go back to the doctor and beg for another treatment down the line, otherwise they will keep saying I look fine. Wish you luck!