Having the hardest time with blepharitis

[TheBoldQuail]

I have been having the grittiest eyes since February and it is really affecting every area of my life... work, friendships, my relationship... you name it...

In April the optician at Specsavers diagnosed me with posterior blepharitis (MGD?). Essentially all of the oil glands in my eyelids are blocked and that is what is causing this absolute nightmare.

I have been doing eyelid hygiene for three months now - warm compress, massage, foam with tea tree oil from Boots and some eyedrops. It is still so so debilitating, my life is just miserable.

I spoke to my GP and I managed to get a prescription for an oral antibiotic to take for months, but after 20 days I started getting really bad skin rashes and had to stop.

Has anyone had any chance dealing with this posterior blepharitis thing? I am at my wits end :(

My DH has this. He uses an eye wash every day and hypermelose drops. It can be really awful, I'm sorry you're suffering.

Not the same thing but I have really dry eyes, so I use eye drops A LOT. I went up the scale in terms of moisturising-ness, until I found one that worked. Most were just like dropping water in my eyes. If you use a lot/ for a long time, it should be the preservative-free ones.

Also, have you tried the night ointment? It stays around much longer but does make your eyes blurry for a short while, which is why it is a night ointment! But I use it in the day sometimes if my eyes are really gritty.

I don't remember the brand name but when I had those the only eye drops that helped were gel drops. Talk to optician & pharmacist- think there's more than one brand which does gel drops but they did help.

In my country I can buy these little scrubbing pads. They are fantastic for cleaning the eyes and work so much better than anything else I tried. Horrible from an eco perspective as they are single use and individually wrapped, but I use them only during flares. You could probably make them yourself with some rough gauze (so still soft by anything but eye standards) and some diluted mild soap.

also a microwave warm compress my eye doctor recommend. It stays warm longer than a damp towel and isn’t as messy.

Do you have rosacea? Just wondering if Demodex may be in the area!

I think I've posted about this before. I had blepharitis for some time before I was due to go away on a rainforest trip, and was worried about how I'd manage the eyelid ablutions while I was away. Well, I didn't need to worry as the blepharitis completely resolved, and quickly too. I put it down to the combination of heat and humidity. So I'd try a sauna or steam room, or failing that, a DIY facial steam with a bowl of hot water and a towel over the head.

Was going to suggest the same thing. Soolantra is topical ivermectin and prescribed for blepharitis caused by Demodex mites. I would imagine if you’re being told to use tea tree then it’s likely the cause as that is an alternative remedy for Demodex but honestly I would just go straight to the ivermectin.

I have rosacea caused by Demodex and it’s literally changed my life.

Yep soolantra is the stuff. I haven’t used it directly on my eyelids but treating my eyelids with tea tree wash and the rest of my face with soolantra has made a real difference to my blepharitis

I have blepharitis and had to use eye drops several times a day in the past and tried the micro bags, wipes, ointment etc. Then an optician recommended omega 3. This has really helped me and I no longer need to use the eye drops. However if I stop taking them for a couple of days the symptoms return. I still need to be careful and don’t use eye makeup but the capsules have really helped. I used Thea Hyabak capsules for years and these worked well but I decided to move from fish oil to an algae source and now use Omvits Omega 3 (Minimum 200 mg DHA per capsule daily dose of two capsules) not the Omega 3 plus as I don’t think the DHA levels are high enough. I think there are other similar products on Amazon if you search for dry eye Omega 3 and look at reviews. Not sure if you have the same type of Blepharitis but it may be worth a try.

Really sorry you’re suffering, I have it too and know how much of a negative impact it can have on your life. I manage mine using a microwave heat bag, but have to be careful which ones I use as any that get damp / putting anything damp around my eye area makes it worse. I also use tea tree cream (Nelson’s) which has been an absolute godsend and pretty much cured it within a couple of days for me when I started using it years ago. I’ve used it every day for over 10 years, and I now only have occasional very mild flare ups. I see you already use a tea tree foam, but the cream might be worth a try if you’re looking for other options. I hope you find something that works for you x

Don’t know whether it’s any help but I suffered terribly with this and ended up being referred to the hospital Opthalmology department. I was prescribed a cocktail of drops which I was unfortunately allergic to, then another lot which eventually got me to the stage I’m at now using Thealoz Duo eye drops regularly throughout the day and Hylo Night ointment. The day drops I definitely need as without them my eyes soon begin to feel gritty but I’ve just started to use the day drops before bed in place of the ointment (which I found very messy to apply) and haven’t noticed any difference in how my eyes feel in the morning.

This sounds really rough. Not sure if you wear mascara but if you do, I can recommend the La Roche Posay one - I realised I was allergic to the last one I was using and had blepharitis symptoms.

Optase eye wash
CeraVe micellar water to remove eye make up
Red Hycosan eye drops, use them 4x a day minimum
Standing in the showered with a warm wash cloth on my eyes

That's what worked for me