New to the Forum

[Jerry]

I am new to this board, it has been a wonderful discovery for me. Very interesting and helpful discussions. My problem is chronic red eye lids. As anyone who has suffered with this condition long term knows, it does have a signficant impact on your life. My heart goes out to the people that seem to be at the end of their rope. Please don't ever give in to whatever eye condition you are battling, keep on fighting. You truly are not alone. My prayer is that you will have a successful outcome.

One common theme I have seen in reading the posts, is the lack of a diagnosis. This has been my experience despite going to all kinds of doctors and specialists over the years. Since my vision is good and my eyes look otherwise healthy, my eye lid problem has gotten dismissed as just an allergy related issue and I get handed a sample of the latest new eye drop to hit the market. From all my research and what I have experienced with my eyes, I think my problem is clogged glands.

A mistake I think I have made is not being aggressive with the cleaning routines. I don't recall ever being told by a doctor to do it daily. I have picked up some tips on this board, although I do admit to being a bit overwhelmed as to which ones to try. But, I am going to experiment and see what works best for me. I do have a question: I am using a commercial cleanser, Ocusoft, once a week then the other days of the week using a sterile saline solution (same stuff that is used to disinfect soft contact lenses). I read somewhere on the board to use a non-sterile saline solution, I can't find any. Is there a reason to use non-sterile over sterile, or does it make a difference? Also, would going to daily use of Ocusoft be too hard on the eyes? I had a doctor recommend no more than once a week with the Ocusoft. Would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks,

Jerry
Okla. City

[Lucy]

I think you may have misread or someone mis-spoke about the saline. I can't imagine anyone buying "non-sterile" saline to use on their eyes. I doubt there is such a thing unless it's a bottle someone has opened and introduced germs!

You can buy Unisol saline at Walgreens. It is hard to find, at least for me.
Lucy

[Rebecca Petris]

Hi Jerry and welcome! Glad you found us.

Further to Lucy's point... I'm wondering if what you meant was preserved vs. non-preserved? Nonpreserved. The eyewashes and such on the market that are preserved tend to have benzalkonium chloride as preservative which you definitely don't want.

Lid cleansing... very individual indeed as you've probably surmised from the board. Personally I find regular Ocusoft foam fine for daily use and lots of people use it twice a day. This is far easier on my eyes than the classic baby shampoo recommendation, which always irritates them. Some people use the medicated one (Plus) daily. Others use another like Sterilid, and still others get by just fine without any special products for cleansing. I used to use saline and a Q-tip. It just really depends on your need and diagnosis and how your eyes react to things. - Whoops, I just re-read your post and see your doctor had a specific recommendation. Was s/he talking about the regular or plus? did they give a reason for only weekly? I'd be very interested to know.

Regarding the clogged glands: I hope you can get a doctor to confirm this. It's not hard (to confirm I mean) - they know where to press to see what's going on with the glands. If they're clogged, then there's a lot more than cleansing that may help - heat, omega 3s and so on.

[irish eyes]

Jerry

Without a proper diagnosis, any condition is going to be difficult to treat - so opinions will vary on what a person should do in order to manage it.

In other posts, I have recalled my confusion with doctors' orders ie that I'm not cleaning my eyes well enough or that I'm being too zealous. The consultant I see now has given me the thumbs up on my regimen but perhaps even he is wrong!!

I tend now only to use salt water because my eyes are so sensitive. I use commercially produced stuff occasionally but only ever use the pads. That way, I use only what I need and no more. We are cleaning our eyes - not washing dirty laundry!

A tad more expensive but it suits me better.

[Jerry]

Hi Jerry and welcome! Glad you found us.

Further to Lucy's point... I'm wondering if what you meant was preserved vs. non-preserved? Nonpreserved. The eyewashes and such on the market that are preserved tend to have benzalkonium chloride as preservative which you definitely don't want.

Lid cleansing... very individual indeed as you've probably surmised from the board. Personally I find regular Ocusoft foam fine for daily use and lots of people use it twice a day. This is far easier on my eyes than the classic baby shampoo recommendation, which always irritates them. Some people use the medicated one (Plus) daily. Others use another like Sterilid, and still others get by just fine without any special products for cleansing. I used to use saline and a Q-tip. It just really depends on your need and diagnosis and how your eyes react to things. - Whoops, I just re-read your post and see your doctor had a specific recommendation. Was s/he talking about the regular or plus? did they give a reason for only weekly? I'd be very interested to know.

Regarding the clogged glands: I hope you can get a doctor to confirm this. It's not hard (to confirm I mean) - they know where to press to see what's going on with the glands. If they're clogged, then there's a lot more than cleansing that may help - heat, omega 3s and so on.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Yes, Rebecca, I think it was preserved versus non-preserved, rather than sterile/non-sterile that I was thinking about. My eyes are extremely sensitive to the baby shampoo as well, my eyes go from red to devil red when I have tried that route. I didn't know Ocusoft had a foam cleanser, I going to get some, sounds like exactly what I need.

It's been so long since I saw the doctor (Optometrist) that recommended the once a week cleaning with Ocusoft (it was the regular pads), that I don't recall exactly the reason he recommended only once a week. I think he thought that would be sufficient and anymore than that would be too much for my sensitive eyes. This same doctor cleared my glands, at the time I didn't know what he was doing until afterwards when he explained, I remember my eyes felt great for a day or so. Don't ask me why I didn't follow up on that. In the past I have tested negative for dry eyes, however, more recently (about two years ago) I had a doctor do some type of tear quality test. He commented that the tear flow was not even, some parts of it had kinda of a thicker quality to it. He had no recommendation whatever for me, maybe it was because he was a lasik doctor. Would that be consistent with clogged glands? In any case, I am going to make an appointment with another doctor to get a full evaluation. Any recommendation for what type of doctor?

Thanks!!

[18CHAI]

Pure Cold Pressed Cold Processed Castor Oil Eureka

mY eye doctor saw that my eye condition worsened after months of stress.
He suggested Castor Oil, but I purchased the wrong bottle. What is imperative is to use Care Virgin Castor oil cold processed cold pressed. But it can only be obtained through Amazon UK or Canada. Several articles on Google suggested the cold pressed cold processed castor oil, by Home Health. They advise getting a clean dropper, and collecting a few drops and the dropping the oil in the eye. BUT I HAVE FOUND A BETTER WAY.

That is to take a clean q tip, dip it into the bottle, withdraw it, and use the oil on the cotton swab over the lids and press into the corners, and because there is enough on the lid, squeeze eyes shut and the product does migrate to the eyeball WITHOUT CAUSING BLURRY VISION.

It is unorthodox, I admit. What I did for going out, I pour a little bit of the castor oil into one of those airline acceptable plastic bottles, and in a pinch, with clean fingers or one of my gtips I carry with me at all times, I have the protection I require.

Remember, I researched this on line. I found some substantial articles that advocated the castor oil, especially if it is hexane and paraben free.

Blink a great deal. Forget about eye makeup. The eyes 'have it'.

remember the L carnosine which is terrific for working on the eyes inside the body.