Eyelid irritation

[huey]

Hi All.

I was casually diagnosed with blepharitis about 7 years ago when I was 25. (I reckon I have it since I'm 15.) The doc told me to grab 'any ol' washcloth and give 'em a scrub and told me i'd be fine. This is crap advice.

I go through stages where my eyes feel half ok which is acceptable for me. but then I'll have days where I just wanna stay in an go to bed cos I have a flare up. I notice my left eye gets flare ups a lot more than the right. Is this common? My eyelids look enflamed most times yet I don't seem to have the symptoms of blepharitis.

One other thing, I go through stages of cleaning and then I tend to quit it. Sometimes the hot compresses cause eyelid irritation which also pisses me off! I had a little rash from it on my right eye recently thet took a month to heal.

Any advice,

Huey.

[np1981]

Have you had any change since?

[huey]

No.

Sadly, I seem to be just repeating a viscous circle. This affects my lifestyle and has affected my ability. I'm a handsome guy otherwise. Honestly, sometimes I feel cursed and then I'll see someone in a wheelchair or somethin. It has casused me to drink a lot too.

Huey.

[Rebecca Petris]

Hi All.

I was casually diagnosed with blepharitis about 7 years ago when I was 25. (I reckon I have it since I'm 15.) The doc told me to grab 'any ol' washcloth and give 'em a scrub and told me i'd be fine. This is crap advice.

I go through stages where my eyes feel half ok which is acceptable for me. but then I'll have days where I just wanna stay in an go to bed cos I have a flare up. I notice my left eye gets flare ups a lot more than the right. Is this common? My eyelids look enflamed most times yet I don't seem to have the symptoms of blepharitis.

One other thing, I go through stages of cleaning and then I tend to quit it. Sometimes the hot compresses cause eyelid irritation which also pisses me off! I had a little rash from it on my right eye recently thet took a month to heal.

Any advice,

Huey.

If your eyelids are inflamed most of the time, and you've not been told anything other than wash with a washcloth, time for a new eye doctor IMHO.

What symptoms do you have other than irritated eyelids, if any? Do you have any bumps in the lids near your lash line? Do your eye surfaces feel dry, gritty, itchy, sory, burning, watery, anything else?

What do you use for a hot compress? Too much heat can indeed be harmful.

What do you use for cleaning? You may want to check out our lidscrubs page for some product ideas. Personally I use a Q-tip and unpreserved saline, just to avoid anything that could be introducing more irritation.

[huey]

Thanks for quick reply

I probably sounded like I know less about this than I do. I use the. Novaritis lid scrubs twice daily. First i dip a handtowel in warm to hot water increasing heat slightly. I re wet and re-apply for 5 mins then scrub the lash area with whole pad for about 10 seconds. The lather will go into my eye but it doesnt tend to irritate, I'll rinse well with cool water after. My eyelid surfaces are always a bit red looking. people comment. The lids have no bumps and I very rarely get styes or infections. Loose about 4 lashes a day tho.

Huey

[katia]

blepharitis or not??? and compresses

I experience almost the same things. After 3 months of problems triggered in Spain because hot weather sleeping under an AC unit, dust, sun etc etc.. I was complaining about photophobia. The firts opht I saw didn't seem to see anything wrong. A doctor told me to stay in the dark as much as I could for ten days.
Things din't improve and I had no idea what was wrong as nobody put a name on it. Three weeks after I went for a new check up in France and was prescriber Celluvisc, the opht told me nothing serious just an irritation of the cornea. 2 weeks later I arrived in FL USA and the ophtalmo I saw told me I had dry eyes without doing schimmer or slit lamp exam. Three weeks later no improvement so I went to see a new opht specialised in Dry eyes schimmer was done, 10, and slit lamp
HE TOLD ME I HAD BLEPHARATIS AND PRESCRIBER ERYTHROMYCIN OINTMENT AND DOXYCYCLINE. I am not sure I habe blepharitis as my eyes lids look normal. It was 13 days ago. I take the med plus flax seed oil plus Dioptec, and do massages and cleanings of the lids twice a day. No improvement so far and I am not sure I do the compresses right, I may use water too warm????
well anyway. I still have problems on sunny days, so often here in FL. On cooler days without AC and with rain it is so much better.
Is there a test I could have to check it is blepharatis??? if it is not Blepharatis what the use to tell the meds and suffer with the crubs, etc etc...
Thanks for answering as any help and ideas are welcome
for those who take doxy how long before effect???

[katia]

forgot to say..

that the first ophtalmo in FL prescribed restasis too so I'll start my third month of this in a few days
Also I just switched drops from Systane free because of the recall to refresh endura in vials.
I open a vial in the morning and use it during the day. Am I keeping it open it too long?? should I dispose of it right away or after let's say just 2 hours???
What do refresh Endura users usually do???
thanks and try to have a nice evening, not easy!!!

[huey]

Not sure

Hi Katia.

To be honest, I don't know a whole lot about the drops side of things. I was addicted to optrex clear eyes for many years which didn't help matters. I don't like the idea of taking artificial tears. There's something not right about it. I like the idea of the body looking after itself. Hot compress's and diet, and not to forget 'proper sleep' are a good starting point. I don't really have a problem with bright light either.

If your eyelids are normal looking I cant see how you were diagnosed with blepharitis. 'cos there's pretty obvious symptoms.

Huey.

[Ben]

hello Huey

I don't have the answer to making everything better but can at least empathise. Like yourself i was casually diagniosed with Bleph, myself around two yrs ago( seems longer) just before i hit 30, and i was probably guilty of thinking it would just sort itself out with minimal effort eventually. Since then my eyes or more specifacally my eye lids have been a major problem in living my life the way i used to. During the week the lids are red and swollen i feel due to too much PC activity and weekends are a lottery really. I guess i have just learned to accept that i have to prepare more for things such as going on nights out etc.. too make them look as good as possible. people stil tell me i'm a good looking lad ( yes 32 is still a lad) i found it hard to believe as mirrors always told a different story. However One thing i am starting to take on board is that i generally focus on the redness to the extreme and as friends have noted i probably think it looks worse than it actually does.
I'll remember i wrote that the next time i get annoyed at 7:30pm on a saturday night waiting to go out.

have you tried using a cool compress, sometimes helps takes the angriness away from my lids.

cheers
ben

[huey]

coolness

Yes I have. Haven't tried it enough for me to notice much change. Do you're eyes cause you much trouble? Consider yourself very lucky if they don't. I would galdly live with the eyelid thing if the eyes stayed white. Sometimes it's a ***** when you're headin out at a weekend and you're eyes/lids are actin up. You just dont feel like approachin women. Such a pity. I've tried those vasconstricting drops and saw my eye's look lovely and white and the lids normal and boy do I look much better! No wonder I got addicted to them.

Keep the faith ben. Things could be worse. I've achieved a lot in life and didn't let my eyes hold me back. I just let them piss me off!!!

Huey