Unblock your oil glands, and keep them flowing.
MGD is the most common cause of dry eye. Our experienced dry eye optometrists photograph every gland, clear them by hand, and treat what keeps blocking them. Treatment can start the same day.
Do I need an assessment first? No. Every treatment starts with a free consultation with your optometrist, in person at any of our five practices or on the phone.
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★★★★★ 4.9 from 600+ Google reviews
At Cheadle, Heald Green, Middleton, Winsford and Heckmondwike. IPL at all our practices.
Along the edge of your eyelids are tiny oil glands, called meibomian glands: about 30 in the top lid and 25 in the bottom. Every blink squeezes out a thin layer of oil that stops your tears drying out. In MGD the oil thickens like butter and blocks the gland, so your tears evaporate in seconds.
How it feels: gritty, burning or tired eyes; vision that blurs, then clears when you blink; eyes that water; worse on screens, in wind or with heating; contact lenses that dry out by the afternoon; red or crusty lid edges.
Most people with blocked oil glands also have inflamed lid edges, and most people with blepharitis also have blocked glands. So we treat both. Every programme clears the glands and cleans the lid edge. Which visits you have depends on what your eyes need.
10 minutes of moist heat at about 42°C. The oil that has set in your glands melts.
Your optometrist gently presses each gland clear under magnification. You see the oil come out on the screen.
A soft spinning sponge cleans your lid edge and lashes: the crusts, bacteria and film wipes leave behind. It tickles.
Part of: EyeClean, and in EyeRelief and Max
About 15 minutes. Eyes shielded, gentle flashes on the skin below the eyes calm the inflamed vessels that keep blocking the glands.
About 15 minutes. Calms inflammation, helps the glands regenerate and warms them slightly.
About 15 minutes. A warm steam towel, then the goggles melt the oil right before it is cleared.
About 30 minutes. Each gland pressed clear while the oil is soft, then cooling aloe vera gel on the lids.
Part of: EyeRelief and EyeRelief Max
Everything in an EyeClean visit.
About 15 minutes over closed eyes, for the bacteria and mites along the lash line.
Calms the inflamed lids. No flash, safe for every skin.
Part of: EyeClean with red and blue light
Skin doctors first used IPL to treat rosacea, and noticed their patients’ dry eyes got better too. Short flashes of filtered light pass through the skin below your eyes. The light settles the tiny inflamed blood vessels along the lid edge and warms the oil in the glands. It is not a laser, and your eyes are shielded throughout. IPL suits skin types 1 to 4 on the Fitzpatrick scale; on types 5 and 6 (brown to dark brown and Black skin) it can mark the skin.
LLLT stands for low-level light therapy, the medical name for red light therapy. A soft mask of red light rests over your closed eyes for about 15 minutes. It calms inflammation in the lids, helps the glands regenerate and warms them slightly. Painless, nothing touches the eye, and it is safe for every skin type. It is part of every IPL visit, and available on its own at all our practices.
Our system is eye-light® by Espansione, made in Italy. It does both, IPL and red light, in one visit, at all our practices.
Most people find it comfortable. Expressing the glands can be uncomfortable for a moment, and we go at your pace.
Yes. Your eyes are closed for the steam, and the pressure is on the eyelid, not the eye.
No downtime. You can drive home and go back to work.
No eye make-up on the day. Tell us about any new medicines.
What blocks them: inflamed lid edges (often with rosacea), bacteria and tiny mites along the lashes, screens (we blink about a third as often), age, hormones such as the menopause, and contact lenses. Heat masks and drops help for a while, but they cannot reach the deepest blockages, and the inflammation thickens the oil again.
Why it matters: left alone, a blocked gland shortens and is eventually lost, and lost glands do not grow back. Clearing them early saves the glands you have.
What the research says: the latest international guidance (TFOS DEWS III) starts with warm compresses and lid hygiene, then in-clinic gland expression, and IPL when MGD keeps coming back. In controlled studies, IPL with gland expression improved tear stability and symptoms more than expression alone. So we clear the glands, then treat what keeps blocking them.
It sets like butter in a blocked gland. Warm steam softens it, then gentle pressure clears it. Once it flows again, your tears stop drying out.
Press play if you want to see it. Skip it if you would rather not. Nothing touches the eye itself.
BeforeAfterBefore: crusty debris round the lashes and blocked gland openings. After: one EyeClean session, in the chair. Drag the line to compare.
I’m Sohail. I’m an optometrist, and I’ve had dry eye for years.
I know the mornings when your eyes feel full of sand. Reading the same line twice because the words keep going soft. Putting the drops in again, knowing they’ll last ten minutes.
It cost me things, too. I had to stop wearing contact lenses. And I couldn’t have laser eye surgery, because my eyes were too dry.
And I know what it’s like to be told it’s just your age. Try another drop. Wash your lids with baby shampoo. I was told all of that too, and none of it fixed anything.
It isn’t in your head, and you don’t have to put up with it. So in 2017 I started doing things differently, for myself first and then for my patients. We sit down and listen. We show you your own glands on the screen. And we give you an honest plan, written down, that’s yours to keep.
When you come here, you’ll be seen by someone who has the time, and who knows exactly how it feels.
You could try to do this at home, and most people have. A flannel cools in a minute, you cannot hold the right temperature, and you cannot see your own glands to press them. It would take you months of trying to do what we do in thirty minutes under a high-magnification microscope. We record it as we go and show you what came out.
The crusting, bacteria and mites along the lash line are cleared with a spinning micro-sponge. This is the blepharitis part. Dirty lid edges keep re-blocking the glands, so it comes first.
A medical heat mask holds your lids at 40 to 42 degrees, so the oil that has set like butter inside the glands turns back to liquid. A flannel cannot hold that temperature for long enough. In the EyeRelief Programme, IPL comes first, melting the oil at the base of the gland, deeper than any mask can reach, and the Blephasteam goggles follow.
Under the microscope, the optometrist presses each gland in turn and the trapped oil comes out. This is the part you cannot do yourself, and the part that brings the relief.
That is one EyeClean visit, about thirty minutes. In the EyeRelief Programme, each visit goes further: IPL (intense pulsed light) first, to melt the set oil at the base of the gland and calm the inflamed vessels along the lid. Then red light therapy, then Blephasteam warm steam goggles, then every gland cleared by hand. Same chair, same visit.
Built by us since 2017, from the latest research. Your assessment confirms which one fits.
EyeClean clears your blocked glands. EyeRelief does that too, and treats why they keep blocking. Each visit, in one chair:
A good first step for mild dry eye: gritty or tired eyes and crusty lashes that haven’t been going on for long.
3 visits, about 30 minutes each
£480
or £240 today and £240 at your next visit
Book it straight in. Your first visit starts with a free consultation with your optometrist, and if it isn’t right for you, we tell you before anything starts.
For mild to severe dry eye: burning, red lids, eyes that keep going back to how they were, drops that don’t help.
About 3 months
IPL is available at all our practices. Heald Green, Winsford and Heckmondwike assess you and book your IPL for you.
£900
or £450 today and £450 at your next visit
Tap Book to see the next free times at your practice
Your first visit starts with a free consultation with your optometrist, and if it isn’t right for you, we tell you before anything starts.
Do I need an assessment first? No. Your first visit starts with a free consultation. Glands that stay blocked shrink, and they don’t grow back, so there’s no reason to wait.
For severe or long-standing dry eye that needs care over a longer time, including blepharitis, mites and rosacea.
About 6 months
£1,495
or £747 today and £748 at your next visit
Your first visit starts with a free consultation with your optometrist, and if it isn’t right for you, we tell you before anything starts.
Or start with the assessment (£145) · talk to an optometrist first
£50 of your assessment comes off whichever programme you choose. As we go, your optometrist may change the mix in your favour, never at extra cost.
Your optometrist adds these when your assessment shows they’ll help.
Pay in full, or half today and half at your next visit. Lacrifill and plugs are added to a treatment once your lids are calm.
45 minutes with an optometrist. Every oil gland is photographed with infrared, so you see how many are blocked, shortened or lost, and an inflammation test shows whether you need IPL.
You leave knowing exactly what is causing your symptoms, with a written plan, your options and the prices. If nothing rules it out, treatment can start the same day. £50 goes towards your treatment.
“Patience, caring and so much help. It was the best thing ever I decided to have.”Pat Smith, Middleton
Dry eye is personal. It changes how you work, drive, read and sleep, and most people have been told to put up with it. You will not be told that here. These are the words of our patients, exactly as they wrote them.
“I had the blepharitis treatment. Everything was properly explained and great care was taken to carry out the procedure. Plenty of time was taken during my appointment to put me at ease. All the staff are cheerful, helpful and welcoming. Can’t thank them all enough for an excellent experience.”
Stephanie Taylor · Middleton
“Patience, caring and so much help during the time I was having the Dry Eye Treatment Programme. It was the best thing ever I decided to have, in between and after my cataract surgery. I would highly recommend it. With all my treatment from starting to finishing it, wow. Just to say to each and every one of you, a massive thank you. You all were the very best.”
Pat Smith · Middleton
“Everyone is very attentive and caring and I have had positive results from my treatments.”
Tim Baker · Middleton
“Helpful and friendly. I had complete confidence in your actions and guidance.“
Carla Reuben
“Excellent service, extremely helpful staff. Thanks for all you have done for me, I am very grateful. A special thanks to optometrist Lara and dispenser Emily, you are a great team!”
Mr P E Garo-Jones
“I was told by two other opticians that it was just dry eye and there was nothing to be done. The imaging showed me exactly what was wrong. Seeing my blocked glands on the screen made it all make sense.“
Cheadle patient
9 in 10 EyeClean patients improved. 4.9 stars from more than 600 reviews.
Book online any time, or call us Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm. Outside those hours, the number offers to ring you back when we open.
IPL clinic
Abra & Co · 19 Wilmslow Road, Cheadle SK8 1DW
Also for Stockport, Didsbury, Bramhall and Wilmslow.
Open Mon–Fri 9am–5:30pm
Parking Free parking on Wilmslow Road and behind the practice
Read our Google reviews
Or call 0161 428 3717 · Practice page · Directions
IPL clinic
Abra & Co · 36 Long Street, Middleton M24 6UQ
Also for Rochdale, Oldham, Bury and Prestwich.
Open Mon–Fri 9am–5:30pm
Parking Long Street car park, two minutes on foot
Read our Google reviews
Or call 0161 653 0771 · Practice page · Directions
Ashworth Opticians · 214 Finney Lane, Heald Green SK8 3QA
Also for Gatley, Wythenshawe and Sale.
Open Mon–Fri 9am–5:30pm
Parking Street parking on Finney Lane
Read our Google reviews
Or call 0161 437 3400 · Practice page · Directions
Winsford Eye & Footcare · 27 Delamere Street, Winsford CW7 2LX
Also for Northwich, Middlewich and Crewe.
Open Mon–Fri 9am–5:30pm
Parking Delamere Street car park, opposite
Read our Google reviews
Or call 01606 599030 · Practice page · Directions
Armitage Opticians · 14 Market Street, Heckmondwike WF16 0JU
Also for Dewsbury, Batley, Leeds and Wakefield.
Open Mon–Fri 9am–5:30pm
Parking Market Street and the Green car park
Read our Google reviews
Or call 01924 403617 · Practice page · Directions
| What it does | Our advice | |
|---|---|---|
| Heat mask | Softens the oil in the glands | Every day, 10 minutes. Home heat rarely reaches badly blocked glands, which is why we clear them in clinic. |
| Eyelid massage | Helps the softened oil flow | Gently, straight after heat. Never press hard on the eye. |
| Eye drops | Comfort. Drops with oil in them help the most | Useful, but they do not unblock glands. Which drops help MGD → |
| Lid wipes | Keep the lid edge clean | Daily, from your home kit. |
| Gland probing | Opens a gland with a fine wire | We do not offer it. Most people with MGD need expression and the inflammation treated. |
| LipiFlow, iLux | Heat and press the glands with a device | We do not offer them. We clear the glands by hand after warm steam. |
Plain guides written by our optometrists: what is going on, what you can do yourself, and when you need us.
MGD is a long-term condition, and it rarely goes away completely. But when the glands are cleared and the inflammation is treated, most people’s symptoms improve a great deal, and they stay comfortable with a simple home routine.
Clearing the glands in clinic, after proper heat, and treating whatever keeps blocking them. For mild MGD that is EyeClean. When the lids are inflamed, IPL and red light are added (EyeRelief).
After warm steam softens the oil, your optometrist gently presses along the eyelid to push the blocked oil out of each gland. You see it on the screen. It is part of every EyeClean and IPL visit.
It can be uncomfortable for a moment, especially the first time. The steam makes it much easier, and we go at your pace.
EyeClean is 3 visits over 6 to 8 weeks, plus a follow-up. EyeRelief is 4 IPL visits and 1 EyeClean visit plus a follow-up: 6 visits over about 3 months. EyeRelief Max is 10 visits over about 6 months.
A daily heat mask and gentle massage help keep them flowing, but home heat rarely clears glands that are badly blocked. That needs expression in clinic.
Drops with oil in them help the most with comfort, but no drop unblocks a gland. We tell you which one suits you. MGD eye drops →
No. Most people with MGD need the glands expressed and the inflammation treated, which is what our programmes do.
They often come together. Blepharitis is inflamed lid edges; MGD is the oil glands just behind them. Blepharitis treatment →
The dry eye assessment is £145 (£225 with gland photographs), and £50 of either goes towards your programme. EyeClean is £480, EyeRelief £900 and EyeRelief Max £1,495. You can pay half today and half at your next visit.
EyeClean is at all five of our practices. IPL is available at all our practices.
Still have a question? Talk it through with one of our optometrists first. It’s free, takes 10 minutes, and there’s no obligation to book.
Choose your treatment · from £480 Not sure which? Book the dry eye assessment (£145) Or book a free 10-minute call with an optometrist
