Blepharitis General Questions

[lollipop]

Hi

I have been diagnosed with Blepharitis. I have some questions if any of you can help please?

My cleaning routine. How long should I spend doing it?

The warm compress. Does it benefit me if I try to use it more than twice a day?

Finally, Ive bought some Clinitas Ultra 3 today which Ive read is very good. How long roughly does this product take to work eg. building up the tear layer

Many thanks

[NancyH]

This is my story,I hope it will help others.I had upper eyelid surgery 2 yrs ago and have never had a problem until mid 2008.My eyelids were sticking to my eyeball at night and I could'nt open my eyes unless I flooded them with dry eye drops.Every few weeks I would wake up with fire red eyes and there began the treatment of antibiotic drops etc until it cleared.I have been living on dry eye drops,stopping drying type medications,taking fish oil,doing the hot compress thing(which has given me bags under the eyes and dry skin)cleaning lids with lidcare,been to 2 opthamologists.No one knows what has caused this.Some say MGD or blepharitis or my mild rosacea or the inability to close eyes fully at night.I think it is that I don't fully close my eyes at night.Anyway I was doing this hot compress thing at night and expelling the glands and ,yes my eyes wern't sticking at night but the heat would cause my eyes to be permanently red fom the heat.It was my mother who said "STOP EVERYTHING" you're becoming obsessed and I was,it was taking over my life,compressers,humidifier on and on.So I thought back to when I had the eye job and could'nt close my eyes for 2 weeks with no eye sticking problem.I was using ice compressess.An esky fillied with ice,a bowl of water sitting in it and 2 gauze soaking in ice water.Victory.For the last week I have put dry eye drops in eyes,put ice gauze on top of eyes and gone to sleep.If they fall off during night I just resoak,squeeze and put back on.I don't do any of the other things anymore only put systane pres free drops about 3 times a day and ice at night.My eyes have been white,my bags gone,I am back to my old self.I am also menopausal.What caused it ?????don't know but this regime is working for me.Hope I helped in some way. Nancy

[Rojzen]

I won't address the lid hygiene question, as I just encountered an excellent ophthalmologist yesterday who suggested that I reduce my lid scrub/massage schedule dramatically. In other words, she is of the school that more is less in many cases, and I daresay she is not the first to indicate that lots of lid scrubbing and expression may yield diminishing returns. . .

But regarding how long it may take before Clinitas Ultra 3 demonstrates some noticeable change, I will offer that response time probably varies dramatically from one case to another, and that in my case, I was able to shed my moisture chamber glasses, while on Dwelle (Clinitas Ultra 3 minus lipid), only after 7 months of using Dwelle as my exclusive topical treatment. While response time varies, patience strikes me as a good strategy in any case, unless you are experiencing an adverse effect that prompts you to stop early. . .(I am optimistic that no adverse effect will happen for you (:^)). . .

[dianat]

Warm (not hot!) compresses should be done twice a day. Some may even argue three times feels good. It certainly shouldn't hurt anything to overdo, so long as you aren't terribly sensitive to the heat and you are careful no to make your compress too hot.

Diana

[Jackie]

My story is almost word for word NancyH's- upper eyelid surgery; no problems for over a year; same diagnosis: blepharitus; meibomian gland disfunction (poor/unstable tear film production... I will certainly try the cold compresses but am desperate for a full night's sleep. Wake up 3-4 X per night with eyes stuck shut (upper lids sticking to eyeballs) and I have tried EVERYTHING. Has anyone had any relief from these symptoms to help avoid the eyes sticking shut at night?

Willing to try anything!

Jackie

[Eyeproblems]

Im going to try the cold water. Diagnosed with blepharitis cold water always felt great.

The problem is if you have blepharitis MGD like it is believed i do, using the hot compress unblocks the oil gland. I have had blocked glands when reducing lid hygiene, and warm compress, (i only do in morning and before bed) and your eyes get very inflamed, red, and from what I red can easily become infected when they become blocked according to one website bacteria is not washed away as tears stay on your eye and tend to grow. Heat helps to unblock them so they can be washed away.

So perhaps you dont have mgd or blepharitis, or maybe you do, I guess you will have to let us know if your glands become blocked down the road.