What are meibomian glands?

Your eyelids each contain a row of 25 to 40 tiny sebaceous glands — the meibomian glands — embedded vertically in the lid tissue with their openings along the lid margin, just behind the eyelashes.

Every time you blink, these glands secrete a thin layer of oil — called meibum — onto the surface of the eye. This oil forms the outermost layer of your tear film, sitting on top of the watery layer and acting as a seal that prevents your tears from evaporating too quickly.

Without healthy meibomian glands producing adequate, good-quality oil, your tears evaporate faster than they should — leaving the eye surface exposed, irritated, and uncomfortable. This is the mechanism behind the most common form of dry eye disease.

What healthy meibomian secretion looks like

Healthy meibomian oil should flow freely and appear clear or slightly yellow-tinged when gentle pressure is applied to the lid margin. In patients with MGD, the oil becomes thickened, cloudy, or waxy — and in more advanced disease may be absent entirely from some glands.

At your assessment we assess meibomian secretion quality directly — it tells us a great deal about the health of your glands and the likely contribution of MGD to your symptoms.

What goes wrong

Meibomian gland dysfunction develops when the gland openings become blocked or the oil quality deteriorates. Common drivers include age, rosacea, blepharitis, Demodex infestation, certain medications, and chronic reduced blink rate from screen use.

Once blocked, the oil backs up inside the gland. Over time, chronically obstructed or underactive glands undergo dropout — the secretory cells are replaced by fibrous tissue and the gland is permanently lost. This is called gland atrophy.

Gland atrophy is irreversible. Lost gland tissue does not regenerate. This is one of the most important reasons to seek assessment and treatment early rather than managing with drops indefinitely.

How we assess your glands

Meibomian gland imaging We use infrared meibography — a non-invasive imaging technique — to directly visualise the meibomian glands and assess their structure. The glands appear as light finger-like structures against a darker background. Areas of dropout appear as dark spaces where gland tissue is absent.

This imaging gives us an objective assessment of your gland health — establishing a baseline and allowing us to monitor whether treatment is preserving and improving gland function over time.

Gland expression Gentle pressure on the lid margin allows us to assess the quantity and quality of meibomian secretion — from freely flowing clear oil at the healthy end of the spectrum to absent secretion in significantly diseased glands.

What treatment does for your glands

The treatments we offer — IPL, LLLT, and meibomian gland expression — work on the glands directly. They reduce the inflammation that drives dysfunction, liquefy obstructed oil to restore flow, and physically clear the gland openings. Regular in-clinic treatment combined with a structured home care routine can significantly improve gland function and slow the progression of atrophy.

Find out more about MGD → Find out more about our treatments →

📍 Openshaw Opticians, Unit 4, 16 Cheapside, Cleckheaton, BD19 5AF 

📞 01274 878214