Cliradex vs. homemade tea tree oil scrubs/ointments?

[eyes78]

I started using Cliradex wipes on 10/21, it is now 10/24, and my eyes feel better than they have in weeks. I was skeptical that demodex was my problem, because I don't have any itching or eyelash dandruff, the Dr. says I have meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). But I was desperate.

But since the improvement has taken place, I hope that demodex IS my problem since it seems to be something I can actually do something about. Maybe I have the demodex brevis, which burrows into the meibomian glands rather than the eyelash follicles. How wiping the outside of my eyelids would help with something deep INSIDE is confusing to me, but I can't deny the improvement I've experienced since after the very first time I used the Cliradex.

However, the Cliradex is very expensive. Does anyone know, or have experience with, making their own TTO products? I've read that it needs to be 50% concentration, so I plan to buy some TTO and a carrier oil (either walnut or macadamia is what I've read). I also plan to start using TTO shampoo, face, and body wash, and to wash my bedding & towels more frequently.

Any thoughts?

Thank you.

[Yorkshireguy25]

This is just me thinking but I thought if you had demodex it takes a full life cycle (around 3 weeks) for them to die until you would see an improvement such as you have from the Cliradex wipes. Not sure whats happening but if it works keep going I guess.

[eyes78]

This is just me thinking but I thought if you had demodex it takes a full life cycle (around 3 weeks) for them to die until you would see an improvement such as you have from the Cliradex wipes. Not sure whats happening but if it works keep going I guess.

You make a good point about the life cycle. I too think that it is kind of implausible that the wipes helped so quickly. Then again, from what I've read, almost everyone (or most people) have demodex mites on their eyes, and it's an overabundance of them or a sensitivity to them that causes problems for some. So maybe the first round of tea tree oil treatment killed *some* of them and that was enough to help? Or maybe there's some other anti-inflammatory effect of tea tree oil that doesn't have to do with killing mites?

Either way, I've resorted to adding drops of tea tree oil to handfuls of face wash/shampoo/body wash right before I use them, just to see if that also works. This is obviously an inexact method, but I really can't afford Cliradex on regular basis. I'm also applying Vaseline (petroleum jelly) to my eyelashes, lids, and eyebrows before bed. Supposedly this suffocates mites who come "out" at night to mate.

I've been doing the above for about a week and while I'm not ALL better, I'm definitely somewhat better. I pray it lasts.

[littlemermaid]

http://www.aao.org/publications/eyen...207/cornea.cfm 'Managing Blepharitis: Tried-and-True and New Approaches', By Annie Stuart, Contributing Writer. Interviewing J. Daniel Nelson, MD, Henry D. Perry, MD, and Scheffer C. G. Tseng, MD, PhD. EyeNet magazine of American Academy of Ophthalmology, July 2012 - helpful, I think.