I had bletharitis last Winter, and the optician told me to purchase an eye bag, which was £20.00, (ouch!!) which I was then to heat in the microwave, (luckily I have one), for 30 secs, place over my eyes for ten minutes, then baith in optrex eye wash, each eye for a couple of minutes, then apply blethasol (I had to buy some from the optician direct as the chemist I usually go to didn't have it in stock and things were so bad I couldn't wait, so that cost me a further £9.00) with cotton buds quite generously then rub firmly and pinch the lids, this being the worst bit in my opinion as it hurt and was fiddly and awkward, but the whole process was tiresome given that you had to do it twice daily for a couple of months so obviously run out of optrex, a big bottle twice and blethasol in the only size they do, very tiresome but after two months it had gone so worth it really, except this year its back again so I'm once again treating it in the same way, delightfully enough I am now able to save £9.00 as the larger chemist I went to stocked the bletharitis, and of course you can't wear eye make up except i shall be on the 19th as I am appearing on you tube reciting my poems and its got to be done folks, this is just one persons story. i never had bletharitis until I turned 52 and I am outraged as it is unpleasant and as i have pointed out totally tedium itself to treat and seemingly recurring despite that fact, oh well.
In addition i would just like to say that I think it is appalling that anyting goes wrong with your eyes, apparently it is considered to be too 'specialist' to get any treatment on the NHS, I am appalled.
Did you ever try Betamethasone Valerate Topical Lotion in the bottle? I know it's for eczema & Seborrheic Dermatitis, but a lot of Seborrheic Dermatitis causes Blepharitis. I was diagnosed with Blepharitis from my eye doctor. There's also Seborrheic Blepharitis. Went to my dermatologist & he told me I can use this on my eyes. You just can NOT put it in your eyes. Just put a tiny amount of the liquid on your finger & put it over lightly on your lid & near your eyelashes & the corners of your eyes & below your lashes. Only use it when you have to. Forget the warm packs, they never worked for me & nor did the baby shampoo, it made me break out from the fragrance. If you want to clean your eyes, Germ X cleaning wipes are very good with no alcohol or fragrance & best of all they're antibacterial. They never sting either, like the Wet Wipes do. You can find them at Walmart. Very cheap too!
I don't understand what you mean by 'too specialist' to get any treatment on the NHS. I get excellent treatment from my Ophthalmologist - on the NHS
Basically what i mean is I had to buy the eye bag at cost of £20, then had to buy the first lot of blethasol at cost of £9.00 as it wasn't available from the chemist in time and then I regularly have to buy the optrex eye bath, which is also costly
I wouldn't want to use anything that hadn't been recommended by my optician
My eye has been really painful so I went to my local eye hospital. The
Nurse gave me some artificial tears, to use 4 times a day. So I have used the antibacterial wipes, an then put in the drops. An within 5 days, got to say my eye feels a million times better.
On the leaflet he gave me, it did say baby shampoo, but also bicarbonate of soda, which I have never heard about before. He did say, these options are there to save you money.
But I am happy with the antibacterial wipes. Plus now the artificial tears.
I use the alternative to an eye bag, a hot flannel and my Ophthalmologist prescribes me Hyabak [same maufacturer as Blephasol] and VitA-POS for my dry eyes and steroid drops for my Uveitis
I would be interested to know if Uvetis is the same condition as Bletharitis and I imagine steroid drops help as I had steroids for my IBS once then there was a big argument with a Consuktant and I wasn't "allowed" them again, it was very stressful and unnecessary for me, Gp won't prescribe steroids for love nor money for me now and all the doctors have conflabs and come out with the same decision/opinion
Also, I live in England and we don't have a Wallmart as in the USA
No Fiona, Uveitisi isn't the same as Blepharitis, here is a leaflet for you to read
https://patient.info/doctor/uveitis
Walmart, the American company, owns ASDA.
I don't know where you think I live, but it isn't America.
You speak as though you think you know better than the doctors who are trying to treat you. They don't dish out steroids willy nilly, they are for people who are ill and have serious side effects, so the doctors try to keep the patient on them for as short a time as possible.
I don't need to be told that I think I know better than the doctors, I was only stating facts, a lot of people have similar issues with their doctors and their treatment without being talked down to in that fashion, come on the NHS is ailing an there ARE issues, so who's side are you on exactly?
That's fine I understand, but unfortunately your Optician is not going to do a whole lot for you. They really don't know how to treat it & I don't want to feel miserable. I've put up with it for enough years as it is. Why suffer anymore? If you don't use the right medication your eyes will get worse & you can eventually lose your vision. Then what are you going to do? What is yout Optician going to do? Nothing.
I say whatever works for someone that's great, because what works for someone may not work for the other person. My only concern is if some things are not working for that person & they have been suffering for years for an ongoing disease. If it were for me, I know I couldn't suffer that long. I'd try anything, even if I had to go to my medical doctor or a dermatologist. I've been to several eye doctors & they've never done a damn thing for me. So why waste the time?
I wonder whether some people are being misled by Opticians. They are not medically qualified, unlike Ophthalmologists, who are medically qualified. Opticians [Optometrists] are trained to examine your eyes and because of this training, are able to diagnose and treat some conditions but, they can refer you on to an Ophthalmologist in a hospital eye clinic if they aren't certain about something.
I get annoyed when some Optometrists try to constantly sell me a product that I don't need, or, a branded product, when a generic one will suffice.
Fiona, you can order GermX online & don't have to go to Walmart. I think you can even order it from Walmart online or just go to the GermX site, or even Amazon. It's antibacterial, but alcohol & fragrance free. It's better for your eyes than Wet Wipes which tend to burn mine like crazy. Are there any dermatologists or medical doctors in the UK you can go to? Let me know, I do care!!!
I have been told that Rosacea goes hand and hand with Blepharitis. I never realized I had a mild case of the Rosacea until the cornea specialist told me 
It is not real noticeable, but is there.
Tried all these with mixed success, but by far the best thing I've done is apply clear honey to the eyelids twice a day, just cheap supermarket variety. A bit messy , but best result I've had after many years of suffering
Oh yeah, I've known that for quite sometime, so if you can keep your Rosacea under control it will tremendously help your Blepharitis.
Thanks Lisa 