When meibomian glands are blocked, their oil thickens like toothpaste — blinking alone can’t move it. Expression is the in-office step where the doctor applies controlled pressure to the lids to clear that stagnant oil so the glands can release healthy oil again.
IPL calms inflammation and warms thick oils; expression then physically moves the trapped material out. Each does a different job, which is why our eye doctors in Los Angeles usually do them together, right after one another.
What comes out is also information: clear oil suggests healthier function, cloudy or toothpaste-like material means ongoing obstruction, and little or none points to more advanced gland compromise. That feedback shapes the next step of your plan.
Keep it flowing
Between visits, heat is your job.
Warm compresses that hold heat long enough to soften oil
Lid hygiene when crusting or blepharitis is present
You feel pressure on the lids rather than pain, and it is brief. Doing it after IPL, with oils warmed, makes it more comfortable and more effective.
It depends on your gland grade and response: some need a closer series at first, then maintenance visits.
Home warm compresses help oil flow, but forceful squeezing can injure lids — leave expression to the exam chair.
The doctor presses on your eyelids with controlled pressure to push out the oil plugging the meibomian glands, the glands that make the oil layer of your tears. In meibomian gland dysfunction that oil can turn thick like toothpaste and stagnate in the glands, so too little reaches the tears and they evaporate too quickly; clearing the plugs lets the glands release oil again. What comes out is also a reading: clear oil suggests healthier glands, while cloudy or paste-like material is a sign of MGD.
For symptoms and oil quality, yes. In a 2026 randomized trial in people with blocked glands, adding in-office expression every two weeks to daily lid hygiene improved symptom scores and oil quality more over 12 weeks than lid hygiene alone. Other measures, such as tear stability, did not differ between the groups, and no adverse events were reported. Here, expression is paired with IPL, which warms the oil first, and with heat at home between visits.
Also consider
Next step
Blocked glands don’t unblock themselves.
Book a dry eye evaluation with gland imaging, and get the oils moving again.
