The tears are the moisture layer which covers your eyes. They protect them against microbial, allergic and traumatic aggression, and preserve your vision. They are essential for the ocular comfort and health.
The tears are composed of 3 layers which, in conjunction, protect your eyes:

• A superficial thin oily layer which is composed of lipids produced by Meibomian glands (located along the rim of the eyelids). These lipids, by their chemical structure, delay tears evaporation. In fact they behave like a thin oily layer on water: oil prevents from water evaporation.
• A middle thick aqueous layer which is composed of water produced mainly by lacrimal glands (situated in the upper eyelids). This layer carries essential nutriments and oxygen to the cornea.
• An innermost mucinic layer helps the film to adhere to the eye and to assure its correct distribution.

If the oily layer is produced in a lower quality or quantity,
the aqueous layer evaporates more quickly and your eyes suffer from dryness.

The Meibomian glands are located along the rim of the eyelids (see picture 1). They produce an oily substance which is one of the components of tears. This oily substance, by its unique properties, delay tear evaporation and, therefore, protects your eyes from dryness and bad damage to the ocular surface.
The Meibomian glands could be affected and in this case, the oily secretions become more solid and pile up into the glands (see picture 2). In consequence, the oily secretions are not secreted sufficiently and the oily layer becomes thinner and is produced in bad quality. This involves more intensive tear evaporation and consequently dry eye symptoms. Your eyelids become inflamed which causes irritation, itching, blurred vision, and foreign body sensation.
This disorder is commonly called Meibomian Gland Dysfunction.

Symptoms of Meibomian Gland Dysfunction are not specific and generally confused with dry eye and ocular disease symptoms such as itching, burning, foreign body sensations, and dryness.
Red and inflamed eyes are characteristic of inflammation of the eyelids. It is often combined with mucous secretions and eyelids stuck together.
An examination of your eyelids and your meibomian glands is necessary. To be sure you suffer from MGD, we recommend you to consult your eye care specialist.

When Meibomian Gland Dysfunction is recognized as the root cause of the problem, usually the eye care specialist introduces a traditional regime of eyelid warming therapy and lid hygiene.
It is essential to know that MGD requires regular treatment.
The recommended eyelid hygiene treatment consists of three stages. Each stage is essential for your ocular health.

1. Eyelid warming to melt the solid oily secretions into oil again enabling it to form the oily layer of the tears.
   In case of Meibomian Gland Dysfunction, the oily secretions become more solid and pile up into the glands. To give you an image: just imagine oil turning into butter. The heat delivered on your eyelids melts the “butter” to turn into oil again enabling it to form the oily layer of the tear film, and this, delaying evaporation and dryness.
   This step is usually done with warm compresses which is the empirical treatment. But their efficacy is limited because warm compresses do not produce a constant and controlled heat therapy which is necessary to achieve rapid results. Furthermore, compresses become rapidly tedious which involves a reheating every two minutes to reach and maintain a sufficient temperature to melt oily secretions.
   For an efficient treatment the temperature must be constant during 10 minutes to melt sufficiently the obstructed oily secretions.
   To help you in this restrictive treatment, Laboratoires Théa have developed a new and very simple concept of warming goggles: Blephasteam^®.
   Blephasteam^® is designed to deliver in standardized conditions a latent moist heat therapy to melt oily secretions with a real efficacy in only 10 minutes.
   
   The device is convenient, safe, and allows clear vision during the use allowing to carry out normal task activities such as reading, watching television…
   
   
2. Eyelid massage to expel the liquefied oily secretions
   - At the end of your Blephasteam^® session, we recommend you to massage your eyelids to remove oily substances by compressing the obstructed glands. This step is essential; a massage of your eyelids enables pushing the liquefied oily secretion out of the glands. It thus improves your ocular comfort.
   Massage softly the upper eyelid and the lower eyelid from up to down. This action should be repeated 5 to 10 times over about 30 seconds immediately following the warming.
   
   
   
3. Lid margin cleansing to remove the excreted oily secretions along the eyelashes
   - Clean the edge of your eyelids with a moistened cotton bud to remove the excreted oily secretion along the eyelashes.
   Performing lid hygiene in the morning is recommended since scaling piles up during the night.
   For a complete lid therapy, clean your eyelids with scrub or wipes such as preservative-free BLEPHACLEAN^® pads.
   For your comfort, Laboratoires Théa have developed a complete range of eyelid care products to clean your eyelids.