How do you contract Blepharitis?..

[Colin P]

As the title says- "How do you contract Blepharitis?" is it always in your system? is it a virus?.
According to studies in the June 2011 issue of 'Journal of opthamolagy' amongst other things "people from poorer backgrounds or live in urban centres have more chance of getting Blepharitis" !!.. That's me on BOTH counts ...

[PotatoCakes]

It's possible that urban centers & poverty have higher incidences of blepharitis but it's also possible that the studies found higher incidences because people in urban centers are more apt to see a physician or have access to a physician that is able to diagnose blepharitis than people outside urban centers and that poorer people postpone medical treatment until the problem is more severe or they can't access treatments due to cost. Unfortunately, while studies offer insight, they aren't absolute because it's far too difficult to isolate all factors.

As far as cause, it appears (to me) that blepharitis is a bit of a catch all diagnosis, with some people having bacterial infections (thus success with antibiotic treatment), flakes, etc and some people just having clogged glands and/or thickening of the lid, and because of that, I don't think there is a specific cause. For some people, it may be bacterial, for others, it may be a symptom of another issue (dry eye inflammation -- a little chicken or the egg) and probably many other causes like allergies and more.

[littlemermaid]

What really interests me is the people who've fixed it. Many people get bleph and it goes away with warm compresses, cleaning, maybe a short course of antibiotics, maybe onto the old fish/flaxseed oil. When it comes back because the predisposing factors are still there, they do the same old routine and the MGs are working again.

They ain't posting up here with chronic dry eye though, are they? How interesting would it be to know about people who successfully managed bleph. I do suspect blitzing the eye surface and chronic use of drops is a big factor in worsening, although once there's surface inflammation and pain it's difficult to avoid.

[Rebecca Petris]

What really interests me is the people who've fixed it.

You said it! Me too. This board tends to collect all the exceptions, not the normal courses of various dry eye diseases. (Which can make it a scary place for newbies - because it sometimes makes 'miserable' look like normal for dry eye!) I wish I understood more about what the exceptions have in common, and how so many people get better so quickly and easily.

[Colin P]

I shall go first then.
I started with getting dreadfull 'foreign object' feeling in my eyes like little stones- it was awful!. I got in to see N.H.S opthamolagist who put a dye in my eyes and found i was getting dry spots and scratches, he told me i had Blepharitis and gave me a leaflet to read. That was it!.
1 month later i attended next appointment, and was given Doxycycline. 3rd visit (3rd different doctor) i was told "youve not got Blepharitis" and to "throw the doxy in the bucket" "as you have dry-eyes" (did the shcirmer test) not Blepharitis... Either it had gone/cleared up? or i never had it at all?.
I trust the specialists, and i had the trademark losing eyelashes every night, which were falling into my eyes; never had none of the debris between eyelashes though, so my Blepharitis was invisable unless looked at through a microscope.
Would have been nice to have it explained which variety i had? anterior/exterior/staph?. (i still dont understand it now???)
So my Blepharitis has gone! and due to daily morning eyelid cleansing has not come back. However!! approx 2x months ago i finally stopped getting the erosions and foreign object sensation, and it was replaced with burning pain-Right eye only.
Not had back-to-back erosion days for months maybe had 3? in last 2 months and they were not bad ones, shifted them on same day. for last 2 weeks burning pain has been replaced with cold 'menthol' pain- Right eye only-upper eye lid area... i use drops 3-4 times a day, and things improve in the evening, i suspect after 3rd lot of Celluvisc 1% eyedrops?... SOUND FAMILIAR ANYONE??..
Which i reckon is the lesser of the 3x evils... Is this progress???. Oh and i now my eyes are not glued to my inner eye lids during sleep.

A message to anyone new to this and obviously terrified, symptoms may well evolve, in my case the foreign object/erosion was intolarable and was responsible for landing me in hospital (along with no-one in the know having the decency to explain to me what was happening to me).
So as of today, infact last 2 weeks, im in the cold/menthol stage in 1 eye only, eyes get fatigued when over driving etc, photophobia and pure white dry powder deposits in outer corners of both eyes.
My sympthoms are not half as bad as they were in the beginning- im on anti-depressents and perhaps, taking away massive anxiety, worry has helped me out?..
Ive had in last 6 months all the symptoms- dry as a bone, burning pain, menthol, grit/sand in eyes feeling, small stones (this one was worst!), pressure(right eye only) and the one that really alarmed me was the shooting pain from outer surface inwards, and 1 episode of what felt like a nerve in centre/coloured part of right eye which was crackling and 'frying' lasted upto 10 seconds didnt hurt, but i could hear it!!..


ps, am i the only male who posts on here???...

[Tankie]

You might not be the only male who posts on here, but yes, there are less of us than women


Anyway, I think blepharitis is linked to skin conditions. For example, do you have rosacea? Do you have bumps on the back of your upper arms or on the back of your legs, or on your face? If so, I'm not surprised to hear that if you have blepharitis.

[Colin P]

Hiya Tankie! No skin conditions whatsoever. Must have been someother cause.

[Schatten]

Don't worry Colin, you aren't alone. I have both posterior blepharitis and aqueous deficiency. (The eye doctor said my eyes look like I am a post-menopausal woman )
I'd like to know why too, I only could rule out Sjogren's and other rheumatic disorders (ANA/ENA negative).
But I do have Hashimoto's thyroiditis (lack of thyroid hormones) which is a risk factor.
What I don't get in this regard is that I developed dry eyes over the course of one year after I started thyroxine substitution.
I'll see my eye specialist again in 6-8 months and consult an endocrinologist.
If then there's no cause to be found I go crazy

[Colin P]

Intresting that Schatten.
I am awaiting an appointment to have a thyroid gland test.. Doubt Sjogrens? as my mouth is not dry, nor do my joints ache.
Was the 'Thyroxine substitution' something you took, to increase thyroid hormones? and you remain open-minded about this being the cause of your dry-eye/Blep..

[Schatten]

I was diagnosed with hashimoto's because my gland is constantly shrinking (< 4 ml left, normal would be around 15-20ml) and thus leads to hypothyroidism. According to my researches the hormones in the body are pretty much linked to each other (think about it like a big electric circuit) so if only one hormone is lacking the whole system goes to hell (depression, infertility/impotence and tiredness are just the top of symptoms).
Doctors tend to say "A pill a day and everything's okay" I highly doubt that due to reasons I don't wanna get too deep into.
While Iwas waiting for the lab results for ANA/ENA I had the same doubts like you: it can't be Sjogren's or sth. else, because dryness is rarely the only symptom when it comes to rheumatic diseases.

There's still the question what else could cause dry eyes if it's not one of the usual reasons.

[Trac]

I just recently realized that I had granulated eyelid (Blepharitis) when I was in 7th grade and I had it all through high school. I have had rosacea half my life, maybe longer. As I think about my past I see more and more little things that point to my dry eye problem. I don't think this is something that just started 2 1/2 years ago. I think this is something that I have had a precursor to forever and perhaps something triggered it to get worse, environment, age/hormones, diet, stress, genes, who knows.

[littlemermaid]

Puberty age 11, sebaceous flakes above eyes, slight acne, photophobia, epiphoria.
MGD undiagnosed 1y by various ophth, random topical antibacterial and steroid drops but no MGD advice or tear substitute drops, punctate keratopathy, neovascularisation.
Developed into periorificial reinfecting rosacea, mouth, red nose, lid margins. Oral antibiotics cause chronic intracranial hypertension so now restricted to topicals. Surface damage seems to have reduced tear reflex.
Previous year, used 28 days Clotrimazole with tiny amount of hydrocortisone for Tinea versicolor on hairline (developed at camp), so possible aetiology is very rare steroid-induced rosacea as Cutaneous & Ocular Signs of Childhood Rosacea, Chamaillard et al, ArchDermatol 2008 http://archderm.ama-assn.org, pdf 321k.

but very interesting thread. Hope this is useful for docs (thanks, guys).

[Hopeful2]

I am starting to notice a cool menthol kind of pain in the mornings as well, for about the past two weeks. Maybe since I stopped using lacrilube at night. Also I am noticing that my eyes tear in the mornings and I always find white granular deposits around my eyes. I don't have belphritis, but I do have MGD. During the day I am using serum drops and Oasis tears. I am not hypothyroid, but am menopausal and post lasik. Is this a worsening sign of dry eye? I don't seem to wake up as often with dry feeling eyes, so I thought my dry eye was improving

[LyndaT]

Dear Colin,

I found Blepharitis to be bacterial. I used an antibacterial hand wipe and killed it. My friend actually was the one who found out how to kill it first as her Blepharits moved up onto her eyelids. She used a facial scrub that was antibacterial with Benzethonium Chloride in it. I used WET ONES, antibacterial hand wipes, in the red box.
Someone from the UK said that they talked to a chemist and he was going to order something for him with Benzethonium Chloride in it. You may know someone who is in the US that could mail them to you or you can buy on line from drug stores.
Here's how I did it. I tore each wipe into 8 sections. I used 2 on each eyelash area 4 times a day for a week and a half. I then went down to 3 times a day (eyes felt so much better) for a month. Then went down to 2 times a day for several months After that, it itched once or twice and I jumped on it with the wipes for a day or two and then it was gone for good.
There were 3 doctors who could not find the Blepharitis in my eyes, including the Dr. who diagnosed the Blepharitis.
I hope this information helps you and others.
LyndaT