Long luxurious eyelashes enhance the beauty of your eyes. However, that’s not the case if you develop blepharitis, an inflammation of the eyelash follicle. When this happens you want to get a blepharitis treatment that’s going to make it go away quick.
Blepharitis may present in the portion of your eyes where the eyelashes attach (anterior blepharitsi). It may also present in the portion of your eyes beneath the eyelashes (posterior blepharitis) where meibomian glands that lubricate your eyes are located. Often blepharitis affects both areas.
What causes blepharitis?
- Bacteria – An overgrowth of the bacteria normally found on the skin can cause blepharitis. This overgrowth may be due to an infection, seborrheic dermatitis or both. Seborrheic dermatitis is an inflammatory skin condition where white to yellow scales form on oily skin.
- Allergies – not common
- Lice – not common
How to know if you have blepharitis?
The area around your eyelashes may become red, crusty and inflamed. The area may burn, itch and become swollen. Sticky matter may form in the corner of your eyes.
Blepharitis treatment
- See your doctor for treatment recommendation. S/he may want to keep tabs on you to make certain your blepharitis doesn’t become a serious threat. Untreated blepharitis can cause cornea damage, dry eyes and other problems.
- Cleanliness is critical in treating blepharitis. To clean your eyes a clean warm washcloth should be used on one eye and a second clean washcloth should be used on the other eye. In addition, your doctor may prescribe a special cleanser for you to use. Use warm water and wipe across your eyes. Be sure and wring your washcloth well. Follow the wash with a rinse with cool water.
- If you wear contact lenses, you may need to either change the type of contacts you are wearing or discontinue using them until your blepharitis resolves.
- It may be a good idea to discontinue (at least for awhile) the use of eye makeup. You should also make certain that your eye makeup is safe to use. Mascara is a great breeding ground for bacteria. Toss any mascara out that’s six to eight weeks old. The preservatives in mascara are designed to be effective for up to six weeks. Generally, mascara is safe to use for up to four months. However, if you have used your mascara while having blepharitis, throw it out and use a new tube after blepharitis resolves.
- Antioxidants – Omega 3 fatty acid
- Antibiotics – tetracycline (oral), Erythromycin ointment
- Anti-inflammatory – castor oil (ricinoleic acid is the active ingredient). Note: Castor oil is applied to the lash area only. Do not put castor oil in your eyes; it’s for external application to the lash area. Your eyes may initially feel worse when you use the castor oil treatment, but improve with continued use. If you opt to use castor oil, you might try applying it at night just before going to bed. Many people report that this significantly decreases the initial irritation caused by using castor oil.
Early blepharitis treatment is important. Don’t delay and assume the condition will self correct. That probably isn’t going to happen. So, get blepharitis treatment right away so you can get those eyes of yours back to the beautiful state they were before they became inflamed.
Now go have fun and relax.