Just wondering will the eyelid swelling go away once the symptoms are controlled. My eyelids are a bit swollen, and get worse when I do the hot compresses. Also, will the redness go away. In trying to control blepharitis do I need to get rid of the crusts that have formed along the lass line?
One more question: once under control will my lashes stop falling out?

Sorry, but i can't find the answers anywhere.

Mani

Hi Mani - your questions aren't dumb! Don't feel badly about asking anything. That's what these boards are for. Once you get your blepharitis under control, your eyelids won't get swollen anymore and your lashes will stop falling out. And yes - you most definitely need to clean up any crust that forms along the lash line. The only thing that you might not be able to get rid of after things are under control are any enlarged blood vessels that may have appeared on your conjunctiva (the white part of your eye). That's what I've noticed about my eyes. Some of the vessels that popped out when I first got blepharitis (about a year ago) are still there. They look pretty awful, but I'm more used to them now. By the way, have you noticed ANY improvement in your condition yet? I know how hard blepharitis is to deal with. Just try to stay positive and don't get too frustrated. You need to be very patient. It's a stubborn condition.

Jen,

Thanks so much for your help. To be honest I think you are the only one who has helped me learn more about blepharitis. My family does not understand, because they don't see anything wrong with my eyes. I don't know how to thank you. Whenever I have a question you always answer it for me. And I thank you for that.

As for my condition it is getting better. It's more the corner of my eyelid that is giving me the most problems, but it is much better than before. I was worried about the swelling, but I guess that's part of the healing process. I guess I just need patience, and should be happy that I'm controlling it now than later. I'm pretty optimistic that b/c my blepharitis is "minor" I will have the feeling of normal eyes again.

For the veins in your eyes have you asked a doctor? there may be treatments such as laser for your condition.
Start reading about vitamins. Your body may be lacking vitamins to aid in the healing process.
It just may take longer to heal after the blepharitis has settled.

Once again thanks so much for your help and support. I will update you in a couple of weeks to see how my condition is.

Have a great week,
Mani

Hi Mani - when I first got blepharitis I had a bazillion questions, just like you. So I know exactly how you feel. And it's really hard to explain to other people who have never suffered from this condition what you're going through. It's very frustrating. I am glad I was able to answer some questions for you.

Yea, I have talked to the doctor about the blood vessels in my eyes. He says they are from the irritation caused by the inflammation of the meibomian glands. There's really nothing I can do about it at this point (or so I am told). I have just learned to live with it. Okay, keep me posted and let me know how things are going. Hope you're doing better! :)

My lashes started fall out when I first had dry eye symptoms. Does it mean that I have blepharitis? My eyeballs rarely look red, but lashes fall out so easily that it sometimes gets into my meal. What can I do about this? Using baby shapoo to clean lashes as most say?

It isn't blepharitis itself, but blepharitis can cause it. And trust me, you'd *know* if you had blepharitis.

What I don't understand is why more doctors don't seem to know about blepharitis and why the ones that do insist on over-prescribing harmful antibiotics and steroids to treat it. :nono: I had recurring blepharitis almost my entire childhood up through high school, only I had no idea what it was and it just seemed to be part of me and I'd just have to deal with it. It eventually went away on its own after many years of battling crusty eyelids. Years later, I had a super severe episode of it to the point where one eye was pretty much sealed shut every morning (my eyeball was irritated and bloodshot and my eyelid would bleed around the eyelashes), it started to spread to my other eye and I ended up in Urgent Care. My doctor, who was the director of education at a very prestigious educational hospital in my area, said it was conjunctivis. I didn't really believe it was since I know what *that* feels and looks like, but I went along with it. :rolleyes: She gave me prescription after prescription, steroid eye creams, ointments and the like, which worked well enough until it got better and I stopped using them (always as directed, tho). It would come right back. My doctor said that at this point it was pretty much chronic, and the last straw came when she told me I was going to have to put ointment on my eye every day from now on. That's a bunch of hooey in my opinion...ointments seal out oxygen which is needed for skin to heal and long-term use probably isn't wise. I did my own research into herbal remedies for this problem (sorry - I don't think very highly of Western antibiotic-based medicine after that and other incidents) and discovered the symptoms matched those of blepharitis. I told her so, and she looked it up in her reference books and agreed with me, but that she hadn't seen a case of blepharitis since she was in med school. The cure recommended in her book? Tegrin - medicated dandruff shampoo (mentioned in the bleph site above). Twice a day take a tinsy little bit on a Q-Tip, wet it down, very lightly rub your eyelashes with it and rinse it off - be careful not to get it in your eyes, though. It kills the over-bloom of bacteria that causes blepharitis (that's typically all it is, btw). After the first few days I started just using the shampoo on my hair and then rubbed some of the resulting suds on my eyelashes while I was in the shower. Head'N'Shoulders works well, too, but I'd go for the Tegrin to begin with. My problem went completely away within several weeks and I've NEVER had it come up again. I don't even have to keep using dandruff shampoo to keep it in check. Keep in mind that I had a so-called "chronic" case based on my childhood history, and that was 6 crust-free years ago. No residual damage whatsoever - full, thick eyelashes and I even wear contacts trouble-free. I truly believe that it's a systemic problem (another thing Western medicine doesn't address) having to do with an alkaline skin pH manifesting as a tendancy towards bacterial infections of the skin - any blepharitis sufferers also have acne or dandruff? White vinegar takes care of that, but that's another post entirely... :)

Sorry about the long post, but I just had to say something...

-Robyn

Thanks Robin for your response!

Your insight has been really helpful.

I've been diagnosed woth "minor" blepharitis. The doctor told me to use warm compresses x2 a day. In the last three weeks I have seen a mild improvement. My eyes tend to be the worst in the mornings. I know that it takes time to get under control, and I need to be patient.

Is blepharitis caused by the 'crusts' on the eyelid? Is this what I need to get rid of. I know that they say this condition is chronic, but I was thinking that it took years for the crusts to build up, and once I get rid of it it will take the same amount of time for the crusts to form. Hope that doesn't sound confusing, but that's what I think the cause of blepharitis is. I will maintain eyelid hygiene for life, but does blepharitis come back if I don't do lid hygiene for a couple of days, one week? The chronic part scares me the most. I've read about styes and chazilion (sp) forming and I don't want to get that.

My eyelids are a bid swollen expecially when I do the compresses. I know eventually this will dissapear, but I find the corner inside of my eyelid the most irritating. It's so sensative, and I hope that will go away.

Thanks once again for the response. I'm going to see the Optamologist on Monday where I am going to ask him a lot of questions. Cross you're fingers that this will go away and never come back!

Mani

Hi Mani,

I'm glad to help - I know how frustrating blepharitis can be especially when conventional treatments don't work.

It sounds like what you have is probably seborrheic blepharitis, although my own bout with staph blepharitis was sometimes pretty mild at times too. Inflammed eyelids and crustiness go kind of hand in hand, and I think it depends on what form of bleph one has that determines what causes what. Seborrheic bleph is essentially like eye dandruff and it collects on the eyelids - hence the crust is the cause of the inflammation. Staph bleph is an over-bloom of staph bacteria (the bacteria that causes styes, meningitis, UTIs, and the the dreaded hospital "staph infection) growing around the eyelashes - therefore the crust is the result of the disease. Don't worry - staph bacteria commonly occur on the skin, but sometimes it goes a bit wacky and builds up rapidly (within days from what I remember).

Tegrin works for both of these conditions. It works for seb bleph, obviously due to its similarity to hair dandruff. Dandruff shampoos also kill the blooms of staph bacteria (my own personal testimonial<g>). I don't believe this problem needs to be chronic (such a harsh word imo) at all - no more so than dandruff needs to be. Since staph bacteria live on us anyways, in that situation there's no way anyone can ever get rid of all of them, and there's nothing to "cure" to begin with except an overgrowth. Sure, I get a little dandruff once in a while just like everyone else, but I don't consider it "chronic". I think doctors like to use words like that for the drama effect... ;)

Warm cloths on my eyes always seem to make the problem worse even if it felt good at the time and did remove crusts in the morning...given that bacteria actually love that environment I think I did more harm than good.

I don't know how long it takes to build up crusts in either case, but it can be quick - it appeared within days of my trip to Urgent Care. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long to build up again once you've cleaned it. It probably depends on a number of factors like diet, environment, whether you pick at your eyes a lot, how often you wash your face, stress setc.

I know how irritating sore eyelids can be, especially that inside corner. My only concern would be if your tear ducts are swollen, are they infected? Has bacteria gotten down into them and are plugging them up? Ask your opthamologist when you see him.

You'll know what your recurrance rate is over time. I didn't know for a while that mine was completely gone until several months went by. I've never had to go to any special lengths to maintain "eye hygiene" after my problem went away, but I do wash my face nightly just to get the day's gunk off. I don't even think about washing my face in terms of "keeping bleph away" but in terms of "keeping the pimples away". lol

Only you will know for sure how much work you have to put into keeping your eyes clear, but if you just wash your hair with a dandruff shampoo a couple times a week and do the suds thing I mentioned before while you're in the shower, you'll probably be fine. Simply integrate either Tegrin or Head'N'Shoulders in to your shampoo supply.

One word about antibiotics - if you have the staph variety, staph bacteria are very adaptable and built up antibiotic resistances quickly. Don't let a doctor prescribe an antibiotic just to get it done and over with. You could be doing yourself a disservice by creating a resistant strain that may indeed become almost impossible to get rid of completely. And since antibiotics aren't going to help seb bleph anyways, I don't see a reason to take antibiotics at all.

Good luck at your opthamologist appointment! :)

-Robyn

Taz Girl,

I went to the doctor who told me to basically keep doing what I'm doing. Out of 4 he said my bleph was 1-1.5. He also said that he didn't think it would get worse, but my eyelids are still swollen almost two months after I started the compresses.

How long did it take you to get your bleph under control with the dandruff shampoo?
and have you had any reacurrences since?

Also, I have dandruff on my scalp and have noticed that my eyebrows itch and flake (my eye area also burns when I sweat) I have been using nizarol for 3 weeks on my scalp but I still have dandruff!
Is this dermatitis? Do you think the doctor will be able to help me control this? And if so will this help the bleph on my eyes?

Thanks for your and Jen 2003's help. I get so depressed over this. I just want my eyes to be back to normal. + I'm scared that it will come back and I'll have to go through the whole cycle again (waiting for months to get it under control!)

Thanks
mani

Tax Grl,

I've tried cleaning my eyelashes with Head N' Shoulder, and accidently some of it got into my one eye - it stings a lot. I wonder if you close the eye that you apply the shampoo. I tried to clean the roots where eyelashes start (while both eyes are oepn), and when I try to wash it off with water after cleaning, the water gets into the eyes.

Also, I live in Canada, and Tegrin is not available here. I think an ingredient "Coal Tar" is what makes it works? Would any dandruff shampoo with Tar in it work? Should Lid Care product be better?

I found that "Coal Tar" is available in the following brand names in U.S. and Canada:


In the U.S.—

Alphosyl
Aquatar
Balnetar Therapeutic Tar Bath
Cutar Water Dispersible Emollient Tar
Denorex Extra Strength Medicated Shampoo
Denorex Extra Strength Medicated Shampoo with Conditioners
Denorex Medicated Shampoo
Denorex Medicated Shampoo and Conditioner
Denorex Mountain Fresh Herbal Scent Medicated Shampoo
DHS Tar Gel Shampoo
DHS Tar Shampoo
Doak Oil Forte Therapeutic Bath Treatment
Doak Oil Therapeutic Bath Treatment For All-Over Body Care
Doak Tar Lotion
Doak Tar Shampoo
Doctar Hair & Scalp Shampoo and Conditioner
Doctar Shampoo
Estar
Fototar
Ionil T Plus
Lavatar
Medotar
Pentrax Anti-Dandruff Tar Shampoo
Psorigel
PsoriNail Topical Solution
Taraphilic
Tarbonis
Tarpaste `Doak'
T/Derm Tar Emollient
Tegrin Lotion for Psoriasis
Tegrin Medicated Cream Shampoo
Tegrin Medicated Shampoo Concentrated Gel
Tegrin Medicated Shampoo Extra Conditioning Formula
Tegrin Medicated Shampoo Herbal Formula
Tegrin Medicated Shampoo Original Formula
Tegrin Medicated Soap for Psoriasis
Tegrin Skin Cream for Psoriasis
Tersa-Tar Soapless Tar Shampoo
T/Gel Therapeutic Conditioner
T/Gel Therapeutic Shampoo
Theraplex T Shampoo
Zetar Emulsion
Zetar Medicated Antiseborrheic Shampoo


In Canada—

Alphosyl
Balnetar
Denorex
Doak Oil
Doak Oil Forte
Estar
Lavatar
Liquor Carbonis Detergens
Pentrax Extra-Strength Therapeutic Tar Shampoo
Psorigel
Tar Doak
Tarpaste
Tersa-Tar Mild Therapeutic Shampoo with Protein and Conditioner
Tersa-Tar Therapeutic Shampoo
T-Gel
Zetar Emulsion
Zetar Shampoo


What would be the best choice?

Hey,

Has anyone here managed to get rid of their symptoms? Mine only affects my right eye and its been like this for about 6 months...i think my symptoms resemble staph rather than anything else...i'm getting desperate..any tips?

Thanks