Blepharitis People-

[clairvoyant]

Do you expierence dry eyelids? And I am wondering what to do to relieve that; is it just warm compresses, scrubs and refresh PM before bed? I notice the boston lenses make my eyelids dry and then drops seems to make the blepharitis worse after they dry up. I have also read that drops do make it worse once they dry. The lovely cycle. Anyway I just started using refresh PM before bed again. Hoping this lasts through the day and keeps my eyelids moiste.

Anyone have any feedback they could give me on this? I'm also wondering what people think about drops making bleph worse especially with those contacts in.

[odydnas]

I have MGD and I do experience dry eyelids. I didn't know that other people had this problem too! What I've noticed that seemed to help is Dr. Latkany's home eye spa described in his book. I'm not sure if I'm doing it entirely correctly, but I have noticed that since doing it for the past 3 weeks, my eyelids have felt dry less frequently. Or it could just be the rainy weather this season and heightened humidity that comes with it that is helping me. I guess I will find out for sure when the drier seasons come in. Either way, if you haven't been doing the home eye spa, it can't possibly hurt to try and it might make you feel better.

If you need the directions, PM me and I can send them to you.

Good luck and I hope you feel better soon!

[Terri]

What I've noticed that seemed to help is Dr. Latkany's home eye spa described in his book. I'm not sure if I'm doing it entirely correctly, but I have noticed that since doing it for the past 3 weeks, my eyelids have felt dry less frequently.

Hmmm... interesting. I follow the home eye spa routine also. I started doing it to see if MG issues might be contributing to my dry eye. I think my glands are working fine, but I continue doing the procedure because I like it. The warm compresses are soothing to my eyes, if they're tired at the end of the day, and the eyelid margin cleaning helps me make sure the last traces of mascara and eye makeup are removed before bed.

I have always used a moisturizer on my eyelids because my skin overall is dry, and I live in the desert. I accidentally left my eye cream off the other night, and I noticed my eyelids felt fine. After reading your post, I'm intrigued by the thought that the warm compresses may eliminate or reduce the need for eye creams on a longer-term basis.

[odydnas]

Terri and MGD, I apologize for not being clear. When I was speaking about my eyelids, I actually meant my eyelid margin feeling irritated and dry, not my entire eyelid skin. I'm not sure that lid therapy will do anything for that.

Terri do you actually put eye cream on the eyelid? I was told by my dermatologist to keep eye cream away from the eyelid and just use it right below your eyebrow and under your eyes (but not too close to your eyes since eye cream tend to migrate into the eyes). The reason is that your eyelid is too sensitive for eye cream and you may be doing more harm than good (for your skin, not your eyes). If they are dry and flakey and you must put some moisturizer, stick with something very simple and fragrance free such as a tiny dab of Cetaphil lotion. That was a little off topic, but just letting you know, just in case you didn't =)

[Terri]

Odydnas: I had been using moisturizers on my eyelids but, as you noted, I have also been concerned about the migration issue. Since the warm compresses seem to have lessened the dryness of my eyelids, I have stopped doing that. If my lids return to their former dryness, I'll probably use a small amount of olive oil in the evenings. (I found that olive oil on the eyelids causes eye makeup to slide off, so it's not a daytime option for me.) Thanks for your input.