What is Meibomian Gland Dysfunction?
Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD) is the most common cause of dry eyes. The Meibomian Glands are oil glands along your upper and lower eyelids. There are approximately 25-40 glands in the upper eyelid and 20-30 glands in the lower eyelids. These glands secrete meibum, an oil, onto the surface of your eye. This meibum layer forms the outer layer of the three tear layers. The oil acts as a lubricant and also prevents your tears from evaporating. When these glands malfunction, you may have low oil output or poor quality secretions and consequently suffer from dry eyes as a result of an unstable tear film. You might have heard of the terms Evaporative Dry Eye or Inflammatory Dry Eye. A meibomian gland dysfunction is a form of both.
What causes of meibomian gland dysfunction?
Blinking-When you blink, your upper and lower eyelids squeeze and touch each other, and this pressure causes the meibomian glands to express oil. This oil is vital for stable tear film. Unfortunately, with the added screen time, and use Of digital devices, many of us are partial blinkers, meaning that when we blink, our eyelids don’t actually touch each other.
Compounding this effect, when we read or stare at computer monitors, our blink rate also decreases.
Consequently, when we don’t have complete full closure blinks, our meibomian glands don’t get used; and subsequently when they don’t get used, the meibomian glands get clogged, backlogged and dysfunctional.
How do you treat this?
It is important to treat the underlying disease as early as possible. If left untreated, meibomian gland dysfunction can become meibomian gland atrophy, which can most likely cause permanent irreversible damage to your glands. Thus, leaving you powerless and Healthy Living with a poor quality of life. Book an appointment with Optometrists Dr. Pink Sidhu & Associates at Weston Eyecare Optical and Optometry, to have your dry eye consultation.
Meibomian Gland Forceps
The most common form of Dry Eye is the Evaporative form, which affects 8 out of 10 dry eye cases. That’s 80% of the dry eye sufferers. This is called meibomian gland dysfunction. This form results from a shortage of oil on the surface of your tears caused by a blockage in your eyelid (Meibomian) glands, leading to tears evaporating faster than normal. This lack of tear production, or inefficient tear formation, is often referred to as
Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD). We can treat and manage Meibomian Gland dysfunction so that it doesn’t lead to meibomian gland atrophy which refers to the death and permanent loss of the meibomian glands.
