Ocular Rosacea/MGD

[Eli]

Well,
Its official folks-I have Rosacea. Its something that, apart from having seen some red faces, that I know absolutely nothing about. Apparently, its a condition that "flares up" given certain environmental triggers. From the very brief ammount of research that I have done so far, I can tell you that some of these include: Stress (big surprise there-) spicy foods, radical temperature swings, physical exertion, etc. etc. But everyone seems to have their own particular things that trigger symptoms. If anyone else on this forum has rosacea-and by being on this forum I would assume that it is affecting your eyes, could you share with me any information on how you prevent flare-ups? I know that its hard to sometimes know exactly-but any suggestions would be appreciated-we can help each other!

[clairvoyant]

Hello, I'm new here but I've done extensive reading on Rosacea, MGD and EDE. Which is what I have, I also have Ulcerative Colitis. It's weird cause to me it seems like they are all interconnected. When one gets better they all get better, even my skin and other stuff improves.

Through my tirals and tribulations and knowing what onset my condition I can identify my triggers some what adequetly. Most of the battle, for me, is execution.

I let myself go, playing video games on the computer for endless sessions at a time. During this time my hygeine and nutrition was poor.

So I find when I do the exact opposite of that then I can reduce my symptoms and stuff like contact lens wear becomes alot easier.

So my advice would be to figure out what caused your Rosacea and work backward from there.

Other key points for my personal Rosacea. I found detoxing in a sauna to be very helpful. But do this with caution, if you start to feel your rosacea getting worse then get out. Otherwise I think it helps.

Eat good homecooked food with good fats (walnuts/almonds) this is the toughest for me cause I'm a horrible cook.

Exercise and try to breath well. Drink alot of water. Avoid computers, if you do use them sit far away, look away alot and blink.

Keep good hygeine. Pay attention to face soap selection.

Hope this helps

[Eli]

Thank you

Yes, I have noticed that anything computer related is not good for dry eye! Which stinks, because I like using it. Thanks again for the input.

[charmee]

My Occular Rosacea tips

Glad to have found you!

The sun triggers my Rosacea. Unfortunately, sunblocks with chemicals are too irritating for a lot rosaceans, especially on the eyes. I've found one that is zinc-based and safe by the eyes. It's Banana Boat 50+ Sunblock For Babies, Tear-free and Sting free. I wear it all over my face and eye lids right up to about 1/4" of my lid margins.

Hot shower water directly on my face will leave my eyes with red horizontal racing stripes. But if I can keep direct heat off my face then the steam helps moisten my eyes.

For me, I can't do the warm compresses on my eyes, it causes persistent redness.

Frozen rice baggies help though, because they're perfectly cool and not really cold. Too cold can cause a backlash flushing. The cool helps reduce my inflammation.

Since the Restasis burns, I'll put it in, close my eyes, and apply the frozen rice baggie, and that seems to help.

Occular Rosacea as a factor in my dry eye is new to me too. Just got my referral for the dermatologist today, and I have to wait 6 weeks for the next appoinment!!!

What are your triggers? Let's share our experiences.

Charmee

[Eli]

Triggers

Honestly I'm not sure,
although pieces of the puzzle are slowly starting to come together. I used to live in Florida for 5 years and I remember every once and a while when the sun would be on my face it would start to itch and burn (only for a few minutes so not sunburn) which would confuse me. Also, stressful situations, like how my eyes always hurt now tends to trigger it too. I hadn't had what I know know was a facial flare up in what seemed like years-until a few days ago in the corneal specialists office. it was almost sadly amusing. We met, and he asked what was bothering me. I described my symptoms and he looks at me and goes-"I know what your problem is." I'm like: "you do?" "Oh yeah," he said "You have rosacea." So of course I'm like "No I don't my face never gets red-" And he goes: "No? Take a look in the mirror." And I'll be damned. I was flushing red like crazy. Other then stress and I guess sometimes strong sunlight, I don't know what else does it. Spicy foods are a known stressor-but they make a lot of people's faces red, so I don't know if I can consider that an actual "trigger" or not. Oh, I guess sometimes drinking alcohol does it too, although I never associated it with rosacea and have had plenty of beers without any flushing. Its a come and go kind of thing I guess. Frankly, I could easily live with the skin thing-I am fair skinned so have always been cautious out in the sun-which is easy, sunblock and wide brimmed hat + keep your clothes on=no problem. Its the eyes that worry me the most to be honest with you. i don't know if their is a direct correlation between facial and eye symptoms, i.e. if your face flushes does that mean that your eyes will become inflamed too? I don't know. I hope not. I guess I should feel lucky that I'm not getting conjunctivitis and other complications and only have to deal with the blepharitis. One thing that I'm very excited about is Dr. Scheffer Tseng's research into the role of Demodex mites and ocular rosacea. The research implies that if the mites can be brought down to a non-pathogenic level, then a significant resolution in symptoms will follow. Have you heard about this? I thought it was very interesting. Researchers have speculated for a long time about the role of these mites in patients with both facial and ocular rosacea and I this confirms that they can indeed play a role. Yes, let's help each other discover new ways to be more comfortable-I like that idea. its nice to know you're not alone.
Eli

[shoemama]

Along with all the regular triggers, chlorine bleach is one of my main triggers. Even the smell of it coming from the laundry or from bathroom cleaning products can set me off for days. Obviously we are not a family that has the whitest whites.

[Eli]

Bleach

Interesting...
Bleach is a pretty noxious chemical, so that doesn't surprise me really. Did you know that bleach will kill just about any pathogenic organism, even the ebola virus? No wonder it'll get the sheets so white!

[skygoddess]

Hi,
The more I read , the more I think I have ocular rosacea. I mentioned this to my opthamologist, he said maybe, but he did not see much redness, that was probably due to my make-up. And the fact that I have been on Minocycline

I read , that too much heat is bad, and I have been cooking my lids for my blepharitis. And I love, hot , hot, coffee. 195 degrees to be exact. 180 is extra hot at Starbucks.
Add in my extra hot baths, (I come out lobster red, ) and I think I may have found my triggers .

Do hot flashes count as flushing?
Oh well, at least I can go bug a new Dr.
I think my Opthamologist thinks I am a stalker

[neil0502]

I think my Opthamologist thinks I am a stalker

In that case, I think you're doing a great job of managing your own health care

[Eli]

I don't think hot flashes are related to rosacea. My mother got them all the time when she was going through menopause and I know for a fact that she doesn't have rosacea. However, you may be mistaking a flush for a hot flash. I'm not sure. Either way, minocycline is a first line treatment against Rosacea and blepharitis, so that's definately working in your favor. Also, there's no such thing as stalking doctors. As long as you are being civil to them, bug them all you want. For the ammount of money you have to pay to see some of them I think they should be standing over you in the morning when you open your eyes asking if there's anything they can do to help!
Best wishes
Eli

[Adar]

Another possibility

When I think of skin flushing, one of the things that comes to mind is food sensitivities. Even if one isn't strictly speaking allergic, there can be foods that cause inflammation and other problems for an individual. The trick is to figure out what the problem foods are, and drop them from the diet for a while until the system settles down.

For me, there are some foods that tend to aggravate any inflammation that's already happening in my body: chamomile, of all things, and grapes, anything sugary, alcohol, some other things. If I leave those alone, the other problems have more of a chance to settle.

Your mileage may vary, but it might be worth taking a look at your menu.

[MaureenC]

Eli, I have it too...

Hi Eli,

I also have rosacea and it affects my eyes. Stress does make it flare up no matter what you do, but I have had success in controlling the redness with Face Doctor soap. Don't know where you live, but in Canada it is available at Shoppers Drug Mart. Look for it in the aisle with the stuff sold for acne. Seems a bit expensive at around $22 but it literally lasts for months. You can also use Face Doctor face cream (I have used a cheaper one from health food store that seems to work just as well) and in combo it will help to control the redness. I also do warm compresses on my eyes and clean lids with a product called Blephagel (recommended by my optha.) and use BionTears drops. Hope this helps!

[lynnie5510]

Hello! please see my long winded post in the "your dry eye story" forum - I have been successfully controlling my ocular rosacea for a few years now - and yes, figuring out triggers is important. I had to give up red wine and chocolate- boo hoo -although I do indulge every once in a while! No more refined sugar and dairy products not very often. get lots of rest and drink lots of water....

Lynnie