Some Questions and Answers

Q: Can someone recommend a good ophthalmologist who could treat meibomian cysts? It's not a vision disorder, and a few doctors I've been to didn't really bother to treat me other than prescribing eye drops! I can't see clearly with one eye now because it's always watery and I wake up with a painful and swollen eye lid every morning. Any eye doctors that could treat something as boring as a cyst in the eye lid? Please?

A: These Meibomian cysts form in the oil glands that are found just behind your eyelashes in your eyelids. There are various reasons why the oil in the glands tends to become thick, so that it does not easily flow out to become part of your tears, which should feed and lubricate the surface of your eyes. Blockages may form where the glands' openings are, and the oil deeper in the glands thicken and become a granulomatous matter. This might become infected – called a "Stye" – or abscess of the gland. After the infection has resolved, you may be left with this cyst which does not drain spontaneously.

If it is still infected, it has to be treated to calm down before the material can be removed with a small procedure in the office. We can also teach you a system of taking care of your eyelids, so that the frequency of these cysts appearing can be reduced or stopped.

Hi,

Q: I woke up this morning with a terrible pain in my eye. It's like a needle going in and out!!!! It's driving me crazy. I have a terrible headache and I don't know where to go.

A: There are a few reasons why you can have such a stabbing pain on wakeup.

*Most often a small object might have gotten into the eye during the night, and since the eye surface is so exquisitely sensitive, you will be aware of it. An eye doctor can have a look for you and also see if scratches formed on the eye surface where this object might have been, or remove it if still present. Vision does not need to be blurred in this situation.

*You might also have slept with partially closed eyes, so that the exposed surface of the eye became dry, and this dry patch might feel like a foreign object too. Again, an Eye doctor has the means of confirming what caused this pain, and what needs to be done about it. Most often you'll need lubricant eye drops or gel, or even ointment to help you overcome this situation.

*Another important reason for pain on waking up usually happens in older individuals, where their pupils naturally dilated during sleep to block the normal internal outflow of fluid from the eye, causing a severe raise in eye pressure. This is usually an emergency as the raised eye pressure is not well tolerated by the delicate inner tissues of the eyes. Vision is usually severely blurred, too.