In the TikTok video, holding two wooden sticks to squeeze the upper eyelids, and then squeezing out a lot of gray and white granular substance, folk colloquially known as "eye-catching insects", this thing looks like an eye worm, but it is not an eye worm. Insects rarely appear in the eyes, otherwise the consequences are serious and unimaginable.
I remember seeing that there was a kind of craftsman in Sichuan who held a knife to scrape back and forth between the eyelid edges above and below the eyes, which was very dangerous, but the customers seemed to enjoy it, this craft had high technical requirements, and it was indeed very dangerous to move around the eyes with a knife, and it was not recommended that everyone try.
So what does the eye worm really look like?
In fact, the so-called "eye worm" is a kind of lipid secretion secreted by many meibomian glands in the upper and lower eyelids, which also becomes blephalange, which cannot be discharged to form a blockage, resulting in the lack of lipid layer of the tear film on the surface of the eye, the evaporation of tear fluid is too strong, and the performance of dry eye disease occurs. In addition, the eyelid fat is blocked at the eyelid edge, which is prone to inflammatory reactions and even infections, resulting in discomfort in the eyes, and squeezing out will be much more comfortable. This belongs to meibomian gland dysfunction, abbreviated MGD.
MGD is a chronic, diffuse meibomian gland lesion characterized by obstruction of the terminal duct of the meibomian gland and/or abnormal quality or quantity of blepharmacein secretion, which can clinically cause abnormal tear membranes and ocular surface inflammation, resulting in symptoms of eye irritation, and in severe cases may damage the cornea and affect visual function.
Principles of treatment with MGD
1. Prevention and treatment of infection: look for possible causes or risk factors, and try to avoid or eliminate them.
2. Physical therapy: clean the eyelid margin, alternate hot and cold compresses, massage the eyelids. Our hospital ophthalmology department carries out MGD physiotherapy business, which is safer and more comfortable.
3. Infection control: for patients with infection with meibomian glands or meibole, short-term antibiotics are used, mainly local therapy, and severe patients are combined with systemic therapy.
4. Inhibition of inflammatory reactions: local anti-inflammatory therapy, for recalcitrant patients can be combined with systemic use of low-dose tetracycline or macrolide drugs.
5. Patients with dry eyes or related corneal conjunctival lesions should be given symptomatic treatment at the same time.