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I used TE almost every night for several months w/o any problems. Then one fine day in November I woke up with a huge red ring around my left eye. It got scaly and sore and was spreading like wildfire. I was concerned I had periocular dermatitis (a bacterial infection) b/c I've had perioral dermatitis (same thing, but around your mouth) 3 times before. I didn't want a raging bacterial infection near my eye so I hurried up and called my doctor and got a prescription for doxycycline.
About a week after the dermatitis had healed I tried the TE again. I woke up with the beginnings of the red rash again. I thought maybe the skin hadn't completely healed yet and I had irritated it with the moisture.
Waited over a month to try them again. First morning - red rash is back and this time it's around BOTH EYES! At this point it clicked. It wasn't periocular dermatitis all along, it was CONTACT dermatitis. I had developed an allergy to the foam. For me it took months, but anyone can develop an allergy at any time. Once this clicked in my head I was not surprised b/c I am also allergic to bandaide adhesive.
My solution was to wrap the TE in the Tini-Bikini. I put it on "backwards" so that the fabric is covering the foam. I still wet the inner foam, but barely squeeze it out so it's almost sopping wet, that way it's wet enough to soak through the bikini and provide the moisture I need. Only drawback is it doesn't stay wet the whole night.
Any one else out there have this problem? Have you found any other solutions besides the Tini-bikini?
About a week after the dermatitis had healed I tried the TE again. I woke up with the beginnings of the red rash again. I thought maybe the skin hadn't completely healed yet and I had irritated it with the moisture.
Waited over a month to try them again. First morning - red rash is back and this time it's around BOTH EYES! At this point it clicked. It wasn't periocular dermatitis all along, it was CONTACT dermatitis. I had developed an allergy to the foam. For me it took months, but anyone can develop an allergy at any time. Once this clicked in my head I was not surprised b/c I am also allergic to bandaide adhesive.
My solution was to wrap the TE in the Tini-Bikini. I put it on "backwards" so that the fabric is covering the foam. I still wet the inner foam, but barely squeeze it out so it's almost sopping wet, that way it's wet enough to soak through the bikini and provide the moisture I need. Only drawback is it doesn't stay wet the whole night.
Any one else out there have this problem? Have you found any other solutions besides the Tini-bikini?