What can a good first step in lid hygiene look like?
Time and technology moves us ahead!
While i’ve previously posted on my preferred lid hygiene protocol, (See my post “More on Germs” from Feb 28) I now have a video of my ZEST-modified BlephEx treatment for removing the “plaque” (or biofilm) that let’s germs “camp out” and “eat your tears.” As I often state to my patients, this “germy plaque” means “more tears for them and less for you,” but then there is the added insult of how the “byproducts of the germ’s digestion” now pollutes your tears and convinces your eyes they are infected - even if they are not. This leads to irritation and higher levels of inflammation, as your immune system sends in all your “napalm, hand-grenades and bazookas” that are in your immune artillery - damaging your tiny tear glands and causing ever increasing degrees of dryness. To watch this video - click the link at the end of this post.
The beauty of adding the ZEST part, is that the Okra-based botanical cleaner is similar to the Zocuwipe I recommend in lid hygiene “homework.” This product has great cleaning properties, while also being non-toxic to your eyes and adding an extra degree of numbing (as a natural anesthetic). The shield protects your eye from the tip of the BlephEx device as well protecting from the “slurry” of soapy cleaning debris - even as it adds control over the natural instinct to close your lids tightly (which would make it hard to access your lid margins) so the cleaner/lid hygienist can do a great job by simply tipping the shield and exposing your lid where it needs to be clean. It also helps shield you from seeing the tip as it does the work. The Zocugel-part of the ZEST cleaning leaves a natural botanical oil in place of the “tasty” human oils that germs would prefer to feast on. The high speed “Dremel-like” tip of the BlephEx tool can then effectively burnish the plaque and germs off the lids and lashes. I see this as the optimal dental cleaning “preamble” to your doing effective “homework” to keep your lids and tears clean and your eyes healthy. Zest and thermaLid-modified BlephEx treatment