For years I've been bothered with dry eyes....eyes constantly water and look red. (I am sooooo tired of people asking me if I had been crying or if I had Pink Eye) I faithfully use eye drops which, no matter how many promises they make, do not make the whites of my eyes look like those of the models in eye commercials. Seems I have a never ending case of Blepharitis, an irritation of the eyelids. It has a variety of causes, ranging from allergies and infection to irritation as well as skin cancer. It is the most common eye disease. He ruled out skin cancer so the possibilities are an allergy (we live in Nebraska, the home of ragweed, free blowing dust and Golden Rod) and a mild infection....cause unknown.
He prescribed Tobradex, a prescription eye drop, and an OTC eye drop Suystane Ultra. Plus, each morning I hold a wet, warm washcloth to my eyes and keep it there for a few minutes. Then wash my eyes with baby
shampoo. I put a few drops of shampoo in my hand, add warm water and wash the upper and lower lids. It does not burn!!! I seldom wear makeup at home, so I do the "washing of the eyes" several times a day.
It really seems to help and the warm washcloth is reducing the thickening of the eyelids, which I didn't know I had.
