Treatment of Ocular Rosacea and Dry Eye
If you are prone to chalazia or have ocular rosacea, the oil glands are blocking off. The mainstay of treatment is warm salt water compresses and eyelid massage. This will get the oil glands working again and also improve the tear film. Lid massage needs to be done daily after the compresses .
You will need to use the warm compresses for 2-3 minutes on the lid margin and then vigourously massage the margins of your lid with your finger tips. The gel pack is available from Shoppers for less than $10 and is microwaveable and easy to use. Remember to press firmly on the edge of the lid near the base of the lashes. Press the lid between your finger and eye to compress the lid margin only. You are not massaging the entire lid. If you are not finding relief with the gel pack, these is a moisture bead pack for $25 available from our office but we suggest trying the cheaper option first .
If you are still having issues , then try 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder daily ( Bulk Barn). Mix with your food as this has a peppery taste. Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory . The capsules don't appear to work as well. If you have trouble with the powder, you can buy the root from a grocery store and grind and add to a smoothie or drink to mask the peppery taste . Some of our patients also find that cutting out or limiting milk and dairy products help .
If this is not helping , we are now offering the Toyos Light treatment , which is used at the Mayo Clinic. It is a series of 4 treatments with lid gland expression performed by our nurses. At present, it is not covered. You can find more information on it on our Toyos IPL page on this website..
Artificial tears will also help and if you have rosacea, Systane Balance or Refrsh Optive 3 or 4 times daily will help. If you are using drops more than 5x daily , then try Liposic drops and Gel at night. Non preserved options are Hylo drops or Hyabak. At our office , we are now stocking non preserved drops from iMed which are less expensive than the Hylo .
If things are not improving at all, there are Tea Tree Oil wipes available either through Cliradex.ca or a much less expensive option also from iMed which we should have at our office. We are not keen on retailing anything to patients unless it actually saves you money !!
If all of the above fails, you may have to go on oral Tetracycline or Erythromycin for 6 to 9 months and consider IPL ( Intense Pulsed Light) . The medications are not used as an antibiotic . It changes the way the oil glands work to allow the oil to flow more freely so the glands don't block up. Check the IPL page for more info.
If you are prone to chalazia or have ocular rosacea, the oil glands are blocking off. The mainstay of treatment is warm salt water compresses and eyelid massage. This will get the oil glands working again and also improve the tear film. Lid massage needs to be done daily after the compresses .
You will need to use the warm compresses for 2-3 minutes on the lid margin and then vigourously massage the margins of your lid with your finger tips. The gel pack is available from Shoppers for less than $10 and is microwaveable and easy to use. Remember to press firmly on the edge of the lid near the base of the lashes. Press the lid between your finger and eye to compress the lid margin only. You are not massaging the entire lid. If you are not finding relief with the gel pack, these is a moisture bead pack for $25 available from our office but we suggest trying the cheaper option first .
If you are still having issues , then try 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder daily ( Bulk Barn). Mix with your food as this has a peppery taste. Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory . The capsules don't appear to work as well. If you have trouble with the powder, you can buy the root from a grocery store and grind and add to a smoothie or drink to mask the peppery taste . Some of our patients also find that cutting out or limiting milk and dairy products help .
If this is not helping , we are now offering the Toyos Light treatment , which is used at the Mayo Clinic. It is a series of 4 treatments with lid gland expression performed by our nurses. At present, it is not covered. You can find more information on it on our Toyos IPL page on this website..
Artificial tears will also help and if you have rosacea, Systane Balance or Refrsh Optive 3 or 4 times daily will help. If you are using drops more than 5x daily , then try Liposic drops and Gel at night. Non preserved options are Hylo drops or Hyabak. At our office , we are now stocking non preserved drops from iMed which are less expensive than the Hylo .
If things are not improving at all, there are Tea Tree Oil wipes available either through Cliradex.ca or a much less expensive option also from iMed which we should have at our office. We are not keen on retailing anything to patients unless it actually saves you money !!
If all of the above fails, you may have to go on oral Tetracycline or Erythromycin for 6 to 9 months and consider IPL ( Intense Pulsed Light) . The medications are not used as an antibiotic . It changes the way the oil glands work to allow the oil to flow more freely so the glands don't block up. Check the IPL page for more info.
