Eye drops add moisture on top of your eye's surface. But if your oil glands are blocked, that moisture has nothing protecting it. It evaporates in minutes. So you reach for more drops. And more. And more.
Drops are like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in the bottom.
The average dry eye sufferer spends over $600 a year on drops, prescriptions, and compresses that only mask symptoms. Most have spent far more. One patient put it bluntly: "Over several years of expensive drops — $400 for one, $2,000 before insurance — and no improvement."
Warm compresses are better in theory — heat can melt hardened gland oils. But a washcloth or microwaveable mask cools down within 2-3 minutes. The therapeutic temperature needed to unclog glands (around 108°F) must be sustained for 8-10 minutes.
Plus, compresses add heat but no moisture. Your blocked glands need warmth to unclog — but your dried-out eyes need hydration at the same time.
A 2025 meta-analysis of 7 clinical trials and 367 patients confirmed it: steam-based moisture devices significantly outperformed standard warm compresses on tear film stability. The difference wasn't marginal — it was statistically significant.
Heat alone isn't enough. Moisture alone isn't enough.
You need both. Simultaneously.
Until recently, the only way to get this was a $1,500 clinical treatment called LipiFlow.