Blepharitis

[Larks0ng]

Hi I'm new to the site but have had SLE for 35 years. Recently been diagnosed with blepharitis which my lovely optician thought might be linked to my SLE. Has anyone else got this irritating (in so many ways) condition which is aggravated at the moment by the tree pollen. I am using Hycosan Extra eye drops which are so soothing but it's driving me crazy. Keep getting styes one after the other and eyes are red raw.

I take Hydroxychloroquine by the way and am getting concerned there's going to be a world wide shortage of it before long!

Stay safe everyone.

[AimeeA]

Blepharitis is a bacterial infection and/or clogging of the oil ducts around your eyelashes, so something is contaminating your eyes or clogging those oil ducts.

There is a chance that the Hycosan is causing the problem and you may want to switch to another brand that is preservative free and comes in individual vials that you use for 24 hours then discard rather than using a bottle which may get contaminated with bacteria or is not the right formulation for you.

For myself, I find there is a big difference in the type of dry eye solutions, and those with y methylcellulose actually make my eyes worse (potential allergy), so you may respond better by trying something else if what you're using causes issues.

I like the SootheXp and Retaine MGD brands which seem to cause the least irritation and are most effective for me, but everybody is different.

My ophthalmologist also recommends these reusable moist heat compresses (put in microwave) to open up the plugged pores so they can drain.

amazon.com/gp/product/B0043...

I'd also recommend not using any eye makeup until this problem resolves itself as that could be contributing to clogging and bacterial infection. You need to discard any old eye makeup that may be already contaminated with bacteria too.

[Larks0ng in reply to AimeeA]

Hi Aimee, thank you for your reply. My eyes have been a bit better over the last week or so (the tree pollen has not been so bad), and I have been following the regime of using hot flannels and using baby shampoo to clean and massage lids, which has helped enormously. The Hycosan drops are actually preservative free and I find them very soothing.

I threw away all my eye make up (which wasn't much) last November and haven't used any since, nor will I in future.

I appreciate your time and kindness in replying.

Stay safe.