r/Dryeyes

This sub helped me with my research so just sharing what worked for me.

Background - - long low dose accutane in my 20's. Now in 30s. Some people say there is link. So just added for those who have similar history. ​​​​​​​​Always remember having sensitive eyes after that time. Got worse over years. It got bad enough 6months ago I was struggling to keep eyes open at work in aircon. I took more proactive measures. ​​​​​​​​​​​​

I had tried lid cleaning. Hot compresses and dry eye drops preservative free no changes.

I went to optometist to get free check. Lifted lids. All bumpy. Possible allergy. I don't have any known allergies but took note. Also the lower lid oil grades were blocked /not excreting well. Water evaporative test showed quick water loss. So it was an oil lipid problem​.

I got myself some opti Mel munuka honey drops and gel. Some cod liver oil. Stopped eating dairy. I eat Paleo with rice.

I used the gel morning and night. I used the drops when my eyes felt sore or inflamed at work. This continues daily for 3 months. Then sporadically as eyes were feeling fine. Which is to say I forgot I had sore dry eyes. Lol. Now I only use if I'm tired and eyes need some soothing. That was 2 months ago. ​

Summary---I feel the opti Mel was the heavy hitter here. It reduced inflammation and gave my eyes a chance to heal and balance. It can be a vicious cycle where eyes are inflamed so can't produce needed oil which the eye needs to reduce inflammation. The omega certainly can't be dismissed. I'm not certain on dietary changes impact but cutting dairy reduced subtle aches on body which could have been a sign of inflammation.

Hope this may help someone. It sucks feeling like you have sand in your eyes all the time. Good luck. ​​

​​​​​​​ Edit. I just wanted to add, as I forgot to mention, that the glands got so bad that I was on occasion getting what looked like a sty. And if I pressed down on the lower lid, there would excrete a sort of yellow waxy substance. So just to show you the extent of how bad my glands were

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I have dry eye and meibomian gland dysfunction. My job requires more than eight hours a day in front of a screen. I wear Zienna glasses for office work, but I'm unsure if I should change careers. I don't want the condition to progress and worsen my vision.

I went to an optometrist today, just to try and get a new glasses prescription and a general eye exam. I experience no dry eye symptoms whatsoever. I did stop wearing contacts maybe 8 years ago because my eyes started feeling a bit dry from them, but also I just didn't feel like dealing with the upkeep of them anymore. Ever since I haven't really felt any dry eye issues.

This optometrist told me I have a "very severe" case of MGD and ocular rosacea and that if I didn't do a $3500+ round of treatment (Lumecca and Forma I believe?) through their connected medspa, I would could have significant vision loss within 6-12 months. I'm pretty sure it's IPL and radio frequency treatment, if those brand names aren't familiar. There was a very clearly routinized sales system that they had at this office, and it had a very predatory vibe to me. They tried to get me to buy very expensive products to treat symptoms I do not have, and they were very very pushy about getting me to sign up for this expensive treatment. I really had to stand my ground to resist it. Two hours after I left the office they called me to "follow up on my treatment plan" and then when I told them I would be seeking a second opinion from an ophthalmologist, she had the audacity to tell me to "have fun with that".

I felt so many red flags from this place so I just paid for my exam and left. I'm considering doing the at home recommended treatment - omega-3 supplements, a sleeping mask, and a heated eye mask/massaging the lids.

Should I seriously be considering this $3500 treatment they offered? She made me feel like I could go blind if I didn't do it. I don't have that kind of money at all so I simply cannot justify paying $3500 at a medspa to treat symptoms I don't even have. Plus I am trying to get pregnant and they told me I would need to hold off on trying if I did this treatment and that would honestly be devastating for me. I'm kind of just in shock over it and I don't know what to believe.

Just wondering if I could get a vibe check on these treatments and whether it is actually possible for me to have significant vision loss from this if I don't even have any symptoms? Thank you so much in advance for any experiences you can share, totally understand no one here can give me any medical advice, so I'm more seeking other's personal experiences I guess.

3 year long battle with OR/MGD. No success with compresses, omega-3 supps, 2x IPL cycles, lymecycline, azithromycin tablets and drops, probing, ikervis, vevizye. Anyone with a similar history had success with xdemvy? or success with it more generally?

no visible demodex signs but my optom thinks they might be living deep in the glands

I've had dry eyes for around 2 years now, and I've been fairly successful in managing symptoms to the point where I only need to use 1 drop a day if I'm looking at screens a ton. I'm currently doing Xiidra, Tryptyr, Compress once every 3 days, Eyelid Massage, and Eyelid Hygeine.

The last appointment I had with my doctor seemed to go very well. Plenty of oils were expressing and things in general looked much better than before Tryptyr, my latest prescription. However, he mentioned that I still had some inflammation the inside of my top eyelids (Palpebral Conjuctiva). Are there any solutions to this? I feel like this would explain the high tortuosity of my meibomian glands on imaging.

I've never had IPL or RF, but he mentioned that RF could potentially be a logical pathway for me in the future if things get worse.

I never had dry ryesa until after eye surgery to remove cancer from eye lid. I kept complaining to doctor about how my I was seeing glare and the moon looked doubled. I was diagnosed with MGD. I feel whatever drops they used in my eyes caused this. Any one else have surgery on eyes cause dry eye?

is there anyone out there that stopped all prescription drops and things actually got better? some days I wonder if these drops even help (Meibo, Tryptyr, Vevye) I maybe felt a tiny bit of incremental help, but my eyes fluctuate so much its really hard to say if any of these drops even help. I'm so tempted to just try to go a whole weekend or week without any to see what happens

I got lasik 3.5 years ago. Recently, I slept with a desk fan pointed at my head (I was moving house and hauled up in a sweat box), and I think that triggered some dry eye. It's been going on for 2 months.

I paid to see a private eye doctor who suggested plugs, but I'm wondering if it's worth jumping into so soon? They are a little pricey. And I think the dry eye is getting a little better, I had a day of intense light sensitivity a month ago, and it hasn't been that intense since.

Then again, I can afford it, so if there's no downside, I might just go with it plus the special drops the doctor suggested.

I have got diagnosed with MGD and DED a year ago. I have suffered a lot for so many months and tried various drops, treatments like IPL, MeiboFlow etc before finding a relief.

Firstly, try to reduce mobile usage as much as possible. This alone helps in improving blinking rate and thus the secretion of meibum doesn't get blocked.

And then, do warm compresses twice a day for 10 mins for 10 days. And then you can try to reduce the frequency to once every 3 days. Some people are okay with doing compresses twice a day indefinitely, but I am not sure about it, as some reports suggest cornea might get damaged and can lead to keratoconus. I am not sure how true this is. Hence, I personally do warm compresses once every 3 days. This alone improves 80% of the symptoms.

And blinking excercises, 20-20-20 rule helps a lot. If your eye lids are sticky while waking up, I would suggest you to put Lacryl-PG gel before going to bed. It acts as a lubricant between eye lid and eye ball.

And do use Preservative free Sodium hyaluronate drops atleat 4x a day, for faster healing.

I know this disease is very hard to manage, but yeah there is hope and we can get out of this !

Repost

I went to an eye doctor to see if I'd be an candidate for accutane eye wise. I had lasik done 1 year ago.

The doctor said I have meibomian gland blockage and mild dry eye, prescribing compresses and eye drops. I have good tear production but my meibomian glands are mildly blocked, so I have a form of MGD.

The doctor did not say whether Accutane is contraindicated or not, as it's hard to predict how someone reacts to it, it might get worse or might not get worse. So basically they just told me to monitor this if I decide to take accutane, use compresses and eye drops. They also said cases that lead to debilitating issues are very rare.

Is Accutane actually a huge risk if I do compresses and use eye drops? By a huge risk I mean disabling symptoms that persist long after the course of accutane is finished. Right now my mild dry eye is usually asymptomatic even if I don't use drops or compresses, however if it's windy I may shed a tear or two.

I'm still on the fence over this. The derm says it's okay and that the treatment can be stopped if it gets too bad.

I think this could be helpful for at least one person out there. I’ve had dry eyes for a couple years. Never had allergies as far as I know. However, in February my eyes started flaring and I was like wtf? And I just realized it has been ALLERGIES this whole past few months. I got allergy drops and they made me feel way better. If you are having eye pain lately for seemingly no reason, it may just be allergies.

Be warned, though. I couldn’t find any preservative free allergy drops. They may be prescription only, so be careful.

If anyone has any experience or warnings regarding allergy drops etc. feel free to share as well.

I’m using Pataday Twice a Day drops.

Hello everyone,

Sorry for for the long post... I hope i will get some advice 🙂 so my story started like a few months ago... it always starts with a little white bump like a pimple on the roots of my eyelash. NOT where the meibom glant are,excatly where my eyelashes grows so its more in the outside part of my waterline. After usually i got more of this white dots and my eyes get swollen itchy and dry skin. I went to see a doctor 3!!!! Times already and each time they subscire me with a eyedrop which contains antibiotics and steroids. Usually it helps but the problem comes back after 1 or 2 months.

Last time I got the new drop which i didnt use yet bc now i try to maintain a daily routine: hypochlorous acid spray, hot compress, eyedrops whith lubricant, and wipes with tea tree oil and taking omega oil also and some coconut oil. This helped in 2 weeks but unfortunately the white dots its already back. I had a baby a year ago and since i dont even use anything on my face... before i always had makeup like 3 or even more times a week without any problem. Strange that now when i dont even touch my eyes and face basically only with water i have this condition.

Is there anyone who has a same first sign (white bump) find a solutaion ? My baby is finally getting bigger so i could go out more often and i really feel best if i can wear makeup. Of course my eyes health are the most important but i really hope i can get to wear makeup soon and can get ride of this issue.

One more thing according to the doctor who just pulled out one of my lashes i dont have demodex.

Thank you in advance for any helping comment 🙂

Okay so I (21F from India) have acute dryness in my eyes for the last two years (after being diagnosed) before this I always had slight burning eyes but oneday back in 2024 after a year of joining my 9 to 5, one of my eyes felt heavy and yeah it just got worse. There was a time I couldn't even keep my eyes open under full speed fan but now its not that its just a really heavy pressure on both eyes, like there a pressure on my eyelids, on my sockets. But recently itchiness has added to it. Doctor has prescribed me drops, 4 times a day. It makes it bearable at best. I dont know what to do. It gets worse specially when im at work with computer screen and lots of fan everywhere and dust from papers and stuff. The heaviness was still tolerable but this itchiness I dont know what to do, it was gone for a few days it has come back again. Ik dry eyes never get fixed permanently I just want it to get better. I am mostly depressed because of my eyes its such an uncomfortable way to live. Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated. (Another weird thing ive noticed, my dry eyes get better when Im eating lmao like in the process of eating and chewing dk If thats smth but yea, ALSO I pee a lot like A LOT even tho i drink 3 liter water my skin hair lips mouth throat everything is always too dry its like my body cannot hold water so that also)

Has anyone with dry eye had Botox around the eyes ? Or Botox brow lift ? I really want to have it done but kinda scared.

I was using Vitamin C + Niacinamide for some time, and then I noticed a pattern that whenever I used them - my eyes felt terrible and I was getting eye strain.

I stopped using them for a month now but my eyes are still dry.

I decided to make this post not to scare anyone or blame anyone!

No.

I actually still believe IPL can be a very effective (!) treatment for MGD, and in my case, IPL combined with gland expression genuinely helped move my condition to a completely different level. It was not a miracle cure, and my progress was extremely slow, but I do believe those procedures helped my glands reach a state where my body could finally start managing the condition better on its own 🙏

At the same time, I think my rare case is an important reminder that IPL can also have long-term or even permanent side effects in some situations — especially if several risk factors come together.

My MGD was severe. My glands were completely blocked with extremely thick oil. During my first expression, almost nothing came out. The oil was so thick and solid that even strong pressure barely moved anything.

Over time, I did a total of 8 IPL + expression sessions.

And the 8th session became a complete crash landing for me.

We performed IPL using metal shields in order to direct heat closer to the glands — meaning directly onto the eyelids and under-eye skin. At the time, I thought this was probably much more effective than standard IPL performed under goggles, because the heat was reaching the glands more directly.

Now I see it differently.

In reality, standard IPL under goggles would probably have been enough in my case 😐

The problem started when we increased the intensity settings during the last session. Previous settings had been completely fine for me, so we assumed my skin tolerated the treatment well. But this final increase turned out to be too much.

In 2 days the skin around my eyes and on my eyelids became extremely dry and damaged. The reaction didn’t happen immediately after the procedure. I later read that delayed reactions like this may happen when deeper layers of the skin are affected by heat, not just the surface. It felt as if the skin had lost its ability to hold moisture from within. The barrier became severely compromised. The texture changed completely. The skin tightened, folded, became fragile and dehydrated. 😔

And after that, even simple gland expression without heating became traumatic for the area. I would develop swelling that looked almost surgical — similar to blepharoplasty recovery — and the swelling could last for weeks.

It has now been almost two years since the damage happened, and my skin never fully returned to normal. It definitely improved compared to the initial stage, but the barrier still feels compromised, and the structure of the skin changed permanently.

My doctor had never seen a reaction like this before.

Looking back, I now understand that I naturally had very thin and sensitive skin specifically around the eyes, and we simply pushed things one step too far. Not because IPL itself is evil, but because my skin could not tolerate that level of heat directly on the eyelids.

And this is the main reason I wanted to write this post ☝️

I think doctors should consider not only skin color when choosing IPL settings, but also skin structure, sensitivity, and how delicate the eyelid area may be in a particular patient.

And for patients, I honestly don’t think “maximum settings” are worth the risk.

Because at the end of the day, we are simply trying to heat the glands. And honestly there are also other ways to do that 🙈

I’ve even seen doctors say that if someone tells you IPL is the ONLY way to heat meibomian glands, that’s simply not true.

At the same time, based on my own experience, I personally think expression is extremely important in severe cases with thick oil. Because if the glands are heavily blocked, heat alone may not be enough. That thick oil often needs to be physically removed little by little over time.

The most absurd part of my journey was this:

after the skin damage, I ended up in a situation where I still needed treatment for my glands… but the treatment itself had made further treatment almost impossible.

It sounds absurd, but that’s exactly how it felt 🤯

Overall, my journey with MGD has been very difficult, especially after this complication. But strangely enough, it has also been fascinating to observe and analyze from the outside.

I ended up documenting the entire experience in writing because this condition became such a huge part of my life. I wrote a book about the whole process, my observations, treatments, mistakes, theories, and mental state during all of this. If anyone is interested, you can find it through my profile. Not trying to advertise here — I just genuinely think some people with severe MGD may relate to it.

And again — I’m not writing this to scare anyone away from IPL.

I still think it can be very effective!

I just think people should approach it thoughtfully and carefully 🙏

If anyone wants to see additional photos of what the skin damage looked like, feel free to message me privately. I’m happy to share them if it can help someone better understand what happened in my case.

Hello! A few months ago I got an ulcer in one eye from contact lens use. The contact lens was found stuck to my eye, with a small white dot on the edge of my cornea.

Ever since the infection has healed, I’ve had eye pain, itchiness, some achy pains/difficulty concentrating on screens. I can’t wear contacts in that eye because they basically stick to it like seran wrap or bubble up.

I was prescribed a few different eye drops medications including an antibiotic - moxifloxacin and a steroid while I had my infection.

I’m curious as to if anyone had dry eye complications from an eye infection relating to antibiotics? Just trying to piece together what’s going on w/ my eye. Hoping it’s not permanent nerve damage.

I’ve been on Xiidra for about 3 weeks now, and I seem to be getting relief. I have not needed artificial tears since week 2. Xiidra twice daily seemed to be sufficient. But I’ve had a pretty shitty Mother’s Day so far, and I’ve been crying on and off for the past hour and a half. Will this come back and bite me later? Any tips on how to prevent really dry eyes after a long bout with crying?