itching and swelling

Hi ive been recently told i have blepharitis and i am desperate to get rid of it i have the itching and most annyoingly the swelling on my top and bottom eyelids. I was wondering if anyone knew anything to get rid of the swelling as it is driving me mad! Anything at all would really be appreciated.

Hi Sophie.

Sorry to hear you're suffering with blepharitis. I've had it for 10 years now but I've managed to get it under control with the odd flare up now and then.

Different things work for different people. What works for me is hydrocortisone cream (an extremely small amount) on my eyelids and I also use vosene shampoo on my hair and eyebrows. If I keep the dandruff away it usually solves it for me.

Speak to your doctor about a course of antibiotics. If I have a flare up in normally prescribed a 3 month course of tetracycline.

Try different things and research it. Something will work and you will get it under control.

Try a shampoo called Capasal, available on Amazon, I get mine on prescription.  You have to shower, wash hair and face with it every day, it worked for me when nothing else did.  I had all the red eyelid margins, crustiness, swollen meibomian glands, the lot.  Now, I have no problems at all.  Must be worth ten quid surely?  Good luck.

I used Blaphasol liquid to clean my eyelids, then when the Blepharitis had died down I changed to L'Oreal gel which s actually make up remover but being a miscella structure works in the same way. 

I also had an 8 week course of antibiotics which has kept the Blepharitis away for over 4 months now. 

Warm compresses will help you. Cotton wool pads soaked in warm to hot water ( but not hot enough to burn you) are the simplest. I found a gel pack heated in the microwave ( you have to be careful it doesn't pop-- heat gently in 10 second bursts) holds the heat better. 

I have been to the doctors 4 times and they told me to use baby shampoo and gave me antibiotics but nothing seems to work. The swelling is worse on my bottom eyelids. Do you use the hydrocortisone cream for the swelling?

Do you put the shampoo on your eyelids? and how long did you use it for 

I have been using it since  I went to the doc's for something to treat sebborheic dermatitis of the scalp and that is what he prescribed, that was a few years ago, I found that it cleared up the blepharitis which had been diagnosed a while before that.

​I wash in a warm shower, wash hair and face at the same time and careful around the eyes making sure the lashes and brows get done (eyes closed but not too tightly) use squeegee type motion with your fingers to get the suds away from the eyes, turn shower back on and rinse well.  I find that I have to do this every day or the symptoms quickly return.  I know some ladies don't like to overwash their hair, natural oils and all that but I would imagine a shower cap wouldn't make a lot of difference.  Is your scalp oily?

I feel for you it's absolutely an awful thing to have until you can get it under control.....check the answers in this forum!/topic different things work for different people and you will have some failures before finding what regime works for you.

My daily regime starts when I get out of bed I wipe my eyes with a solution of boiled cooled water with blephasol lotion in. While I'm having my shower I let the hot water run over closed eyes...then use cotton buds to clean the inside of my lids then use blephaclean wipes (torn in half) to wipe my eyes before using lumecare gel for my dry eye.

When I get home from work around 5pm I use a microwave eye bag which I heat up and put over my eyes for 10 minutes before cleaning with the inner lids with the cotton buds and then cotton pads to clean the whole eye. Before going to bed I wipe them again with the blephaclean wipes.....I do use the capasal shampoo at times with the coal tar in and also the one with tee tree oil in. You will hopefully find something that works for you by trying other people's routines. Good luck hope it doesn't take too long xx

i have been given antibitoics but i feel it doesnt do much and the swelling is the worst i am literally willing to try anything to get rid of it. Do you find that the blephosol solution helps?

thanks you for your help xx

Hi sophie, when i had a really bad bout of blepharitis i started to wash my face in vagisil as it contains an ingredient know to helpkeep it at bay. The ingredient is benzethonium chloride which another sufferer said was in wet ones (hand wipes) but i found it in vagisil femine wash and have never suffered since. Give a try!

Will send a private message

Yes I find the blephasol lotion works well ...I have tried everything....I tried the wet ones and they made my eyes feel worse. ...baby shampoo didn't do much either ....you will have failures before you get there....but hopefully won't be long.....I also use Manuka honey smeared on my eye lids when they are really sore.

Hi tammy, is it safe to wash your face with that and did you also put this on your eyelids?

To be honest sophie if its safe to use intimately then i can only

Presume it us ok for your face. I just use it as you would a normal face wash eyes aswell. Honestly give it a go, i only do it about 3 times a week now, but that first time i used it i felt a relief straight away. Once its under control you can just use it every other day or so. Please try it and let me know hiw you get on with it.

Just be really careful what you put in your eyes. ....I don't want to put anything or anyone down for what they use but eyes are precious and you can't just put anything in them.....ask your doctor or pharmacist if you are unsure about anything .. ...☺

Ugh I've been suffering with blepharitis for 7 months the now..only the swelling mainly though..nothjnf has worked for me.. I've tried every eyedrop, ointment, prescription..everything. My next step is seeing a dermatologist next week to see if its skin related (acne rosacea) and getting blephex treatment done next week also, and travelling 4 hours to get a Lipiflow treatment done. This is what happens when you've sourced all your options and nothing works for you sad

Oh dear Jamie, it's very debilitating for you. What are lipiflow and blephex treatments please?

Hi jamie i had the swelling really bad too but since i started taking doxycyline it has tamed the swelling finally! I also went to see an eye specialsit who gave me eye drops and ointment as my eyes are really dry but he said the cause was from long term contact use. How have you got on with your treatments?