Help_skin above eyes getting red and flaky after daily treatment

[Eileen510]

Help - my eyes are doing so much better now that I do the treatment (warm compress and baby shampoo) 2X day now. But the skin above my eyes starting from the inner area next to my nose and going out is getting all red and flaky and its spreading more each day. My lids next to my eye lashes are OK - well OK for bleph! At least my lids are not red - but might be coming soon. I'm starting to panic -the red areas first started as a small dry looking patch next to my eye by my nose - and over the last 2 weeks it has suddenly bloomed into the red patch - and without warning same thing started above my left eye. I am trying the obvious - not getting baby shampoo next to that area and trying to avoid it. I don't use HOT compress. It's so icky. Any ideas how to stop it? With bleph I am scared to put any type of lotion of moisturizer close to my eye - and it is very close.

[Eileen510]

I think anyone reading my post is being careful and not recommending anything to moisturize my itchy red lids - which I understand. I seem to be allergic to just about everything (like any of the moisture drops - can't use them). The baby shampoo has been safe - I suppose I just overdid it... - I've been using the baby shampoo treatment for over a year - I started about 3 months increasing the time soaking and upped the treatment to 2 times a day - my eyeballs are doing so much better. Too bad my lids have suddenly gone all red flakey and pinkish - ugg - I look like character from a Tim Burton movie. (At work I try not to look down when people drop by my desk - tough thing to do - I'm an admin and our cube walls are short - thank goodness the monitor is "up" This is day 3 of me not doing the full treatment - I carefully use q-tips dipped in warm water to dislodge the crude from around my eyelashes. Haven't got any baby shampoo next to the lids - still really itchy. Jeez - I'm hoping this will go away in a few days. Wish me luck!

[magoo]

Good luck, Eileen!
Have you tried castor oil as a moisturizer on your lids? I believe it is safe, as there is castor oil in Restasis and I think I have read here of some using it successfully.

I use a tiny bit of Refresh Lacrilube - it's an ointment for putting IN the eye, but I use it around my eyes.
It does have additives though. Here are the ingredients: Mineral Oil 42. 5% (Eye Lubricant), White Petrolatum 56. 8% (Eye Lubricant).
Inactive Ingredients:
Chlorobutanol (0. 5%), Lanolin Alcohols.

Lynda

ETA: I believe sterile castor oil is available, perhaps through your pharmacist.
If you do a search here for castor oil you will find lots of post regarding it's use

[Eileen510]

I will try the Refresh Lacrilube - on the skin - I'll try it in a less tender area and work my way towards the eye area. Does the statement I seem to be a warning for others (!) I'm embarassed to admit I went to the kitchen last week since I was so red-dry-flakey itch bad======and I dabbed on vegetable oil below my eyebrows, gently rubbed and washed off.-I had flakes rolling off (yes very gross). As to be expected - the veg oil went everywhere and my lids arounds my eyelashed puffed up like 2 inner tube tires. BUT - the skin below my brows and next to my nose felt so much better. I'm using antibiotics to get my lids back to normal - and I have a infected gland to boot from my stupid veg oil experience- ugg. I was working like a crazy person with no time to get to a pharmacy...I won't make that same mistake again. Also - I haven't used the baby-shampoo treatment for 8 days now - I just use warm water and a q-tip, which isn't working quite as well - but will have to do for now.

[SweetLife]

I was diagnosed with severe Bletharitis and tried several eye creams and ointments prescribed by my doctor including hydracortasone creams. I suffered for months until eventually it got so bad I was suffering with open sores and yellow discharge in patches under my eyebrows right down to my eyelids and underneath the bottom of my eyes. Absolutely fed up with seemingly no real success medically I decided to see a herbalist which was the best thing I could have done. I'm not saying that my Bletharitis has miraculously disappeared but it is so much better and managable with just a few changes. I use the herbs Calendula, Eyebright and Chamomile making up a cup of tea to drink and a bowl of soaked herbs for an eyewash. I drink the liquid from the soaked herbs every evening and bathe my eye with the soaked up eyewash liquid on a cotton wool pad at least three times a day. I then apply a totally natural Calendula healing cream as much as possible during the day. I also take a good multi-vitamin and extra vitamin C on top. After three days of this regime I noticed a vast improvement, the sores healed, my scabs and scaly skin disappeared. I still get the odd flare up and suffer with redness but I have now got to the point where I can even wear make up again after months of avoidance. The total cost for the herbs and lotion was under £10.00 and the multi-vitamins another £10.00, the herbs will last me over a month as will the vitamins. £20.00 a month is a small price to pay for making this condition manageable. I wanted to share my story as Bletharitis ruined my life for so long, some days I didnt want to leave the house my eye looked so awful.

[kevino]

The baby shampoo is drying and chapping the skin. I'd suggest fish oil capsules, 2-4g per day to add moisture from the bloodstream outwards.

kevino

[Eileen510]

I know everyone is dying to know my status (ha!) anyway - it's day 22 of not using baby-shampoo since my skin above my lids went totally bonkers. I have been taking one Flaxseed Oil gel pill 1000 mg a day - it has no fishy taste - don't know if it's helping yet. I'm still left with lizard skin in the skin above my eyes next to my nose - flakey, thickened - but at least not red. I have been paranoid to put anything on my skin but luke warm water 2X a day and the a barely warmed rice bag 1X day. I've been cleaning my lashes with a q-tip, which isn't doing a very good job, my eyes are itchy and I have these nasty little white plugs at the base of my eyelashes that do not budge. Ugg - my skin looks like I'm 90 years old - and I still have 35 years until I reach that age! What a hard lesson to learn - that whole episode came on so fast. I think it was brought on by the baby shampoo AND I used antibiotic on my lashes - Dr's suggestion - but the upper lids had a reaction--- believe me I am not sure what happened.

[littlemermaid]

Eileen, We can't use detergents either because of rosacea sensitivity to chemicals. Are you worried about heat on your eyes because I 'm wondering if barely-warm is enough to melt the meibom? We're finding the glands need to be warmed every day to get things moving otherwise they stay blocked - although a hot shower also keeps things good we need direct heat as well. Although we've done well on the eyebag, especially with chalazia, we're using this French gadget Blephasteam every day which doesn't touch the eyes and warms with steam http://www.spectrum-thea.co.uk/bleph...ephasteam.aspx. It's pricey at £200 so I haven't recommended it before plus we have to buy lots of insert rings but it is really pleasant and easy to use, with a bit of spa-like relaxation, and makes life easier for us.

[Cali]

I have a salve made up. It has beeswax, olive oil, essential oils of lavendar, tea tree, eucalyptus and rosemary plants. I put it on 2x a day. I take a q-tip and get some of the salve (or balm) on it. I then wipe it around my upper lid, close to the lash line around and below on my lower lid. It melts and looks very greasy. The tea tree oil kills tiny mites that live in your lash line (EVERYONE alive has these mites). These mites eat what little precious oil you're secreting and the beeswax kills the mites. The balm as a whole feels INCREDIBLE and soothing. The combo (I'm not sure of the qty. of each), is a lifesaver. Two times a day I clean with baby shampoo, I then warm compress, then I put on the balm.

I used the balm 2x a day for 2 weeks (to kill all the mites and their eggs), and now just nightly for maintenence.

This stuff works great. It's a fantastic moisturizer. My lids are not dry and again, when I put it on I get immediate releif.

Eileen, I am in California too. If you want to write me a private message I can give you more info.

[Eileen510]

Littlemermaid - Thank you for tip of the Blephasteam. With my sensitivity around my lids and my eyes to just about everything chemical (or natural!) the Blephasteam sounds excellent - but due to the price I will give the Rice Bag treament a go of it now to get the lid temp to warm instead of copious amounts of warm water. I still have trouble with my left eye going icky - so far the eyeballs haven't been so happy without the baby shampoo treatment - I've used the antibiotic 2X now since the dreaded episode and I really don't wnt to use the antibiotic. The scales above my eyes are getting much better - it's been over a month now that I've quit the baby shampoo treatment- funny the eye that rarely has issues has the most stubborn scales above the lids - I'm rather creepy looking still. People have been very nice and either just ignore the fact I have these scales - - or maybe it looks worse to me than the rest of the world

[Eileen510]

Cali - It's wonderful you found a salve to work for you. For me - I would fear it would make me worse - I'm just to darn sensitive just about everything but water.

[littlemermaid]

Eileen, Your situation sounds very similar to Stella so you might want to Personal Message her about what has helped because she is much better now.

[bunnyrabbit123]

Hi LM-
If you live in US, you cannot get Blephasteam. I e-mailed Spectrum-thea and they were good enough to respond right away with the bad news that they don't ship to US. It is a pricey item but seems like a really good idea.

[Eileen510]

Oh that is just the pitts that the Blephasteam can't be shipped to the US- for the last couple of days I was ramping up budget to purchase the Blephasteam. I will contact them anyway to ensure they know that there is interest in the US.

[littlemermaid]

Eileen, Good idea - originally it was tested in eye clinics around the world. It is just a gadget but she likes it because it makes the warm environment without contact or chemicals. The most effective for cleaning and warmth is a shower or hot bath, but then, with rosacea, she's sometimes coming out the bathroom with red eyes. So it's finding what works best for the individual according to symptoms, I guess, and we use all the methods according to what's easier in daily life or how inflamed the eyes are.

Hope you can find something gentle to suit you that clears up the sore skin around the eyes like SweetLife and Cali and Stella did.