What Is Blepharitis And How Do You Treat It?
Blepharitis is the most common cause of tired, sore, and dry eyes. Blepharitis is inflammation of the eyelids, and almost everyone has symptoms from it at some stage in their life.
Although blepharitis is not caused by eye surgery, it is important to manage the condition both before and after any surgical procedure to prevent complications and promote healing.
Treatment focuses on good eyelid hygiene, such as gentle cleaning of the eyelid margins, warm compresses, and, in some cases, medicated ointments or drops prescribed by an eye care professional. Managing underlying conditions, such as dry eye or bacterial overgrowth, can also help control symptoms.
What Are The Main Symptoms Of Blepharitis?
Blepharitis can cause a variety of uncomfortable eye symptoms. The main symptoms include:
- Tired, gritty, itchy or sore eyes.
Dry or watery eyes, or a burning sensation.
Crusty eyelids.
Inflamed eyelids.
Eyelids that stick together or can be difficult to open when you wake up.
What Types of Blepharitis Are There?
There are two main types of blepharitis:
Anterior blepharitis
Posterior blepharitis (or meibomian gland dysfunction, “MGD”)
Anterior blepharitis is thought due to an overgrowth of bacteria helped in part by build up of debris (crusts) on the eyelid margins, or a response by the body against bacterial toxins.
In posterior blepharitis there is blockage and resulting inflammation of the meibomian (oil) glands on the edge of the eyelids. Changes in the ratio of free fatty acids to cholesterol esters results in meibomian gland secretions with higher melting temperatures causing blockage of the gland opening. This results in less lipid (oil) secretion and so a reduced lipid layer of the tear film. This causes dry eye symptoms as the oil layer normally helps reduce tear film evaporation.
Blepharitis can cause styes or Meibomian cysts (swollen lumps on the eyelids).
There is often no obvious reason why you have developed blepharitis at a particular time. It is usually a long-term condition, meaning that once it is controlled, you will need to continue treatment to help prevent repeat episodes. There is no cure as of yet.
Best Blepharitis Treatments
Hot Compresses
Blepharitis cannot be cured, but the symptoms can be well controlled with good eyelid hygiene.
If you have had eye surgery within the past two weeks, you can clean the eye lids to remove any crusts but you must not put pressure on the eye – so keeping the eye closed, use a ball of cotton wool soaked in clean, warm water to gently wash the eyelashes. Otherwise:
Hot compresses for 1-2 minutes are the mainstay of treatment. The key is moist heat as this helps to melt the oils that have blocked up the pores in the eyelids. You can use a face flannel with hot water held over the closed eye for 15 seconds before immersing in hot water again , although some people find special eye hot compresses such as the MGDRx eye bag or The Eye Doctor eye bag more effective. The recommended regime is four times a day for two weeks, then twice a day for a month, and twice a week after that. If you are using a simple hot compress with a face flannel then warm saltwater soaks are preferred as this is more isotonic and thus more comfortable and less likely to wrinkle the eyelid skin.
Steam from a hot shower or sauna can help. Special eyelid warming goggles such as Blephasteam Goggles can be very effective, but are expensive.
Eyelid massage¹,² should be done after the hot compress to unblock the openings of the Meibomian glands and reduce the bacterial load. Use a cloth or cotton bud with warm water or Blephasol Sensitive Eyelids Eye Lotion to gently wipe the edge of the eyelids. Gentle compression, not rubbing, of closed eyelids is ideal—with or without the use of a sterile eye pad/ wipe such as Blephaclean Sterile Pads or Lumecare Eyelid wipes. If blepharitis is severe, you can very carefully use a cotton bud to remove the cap of oil from the gland orifice – but be very careful not to touch your eye and do this only after being shown how to do this safely by your Ophthalmologist.
Unfortunately the treatment of blepharitis is frustrating as there is no immediate fix – you will need to do the above for 3-4 weeks before you notice any improvement, and will need to continue the lid hygiene long-term, so at least twice a week thereafter to prevent it from returning.
Lubricating Eye Drops
These help make the eyes more comfortable.³ Recommended artificial tear drops include:
Hyabak
Hyloforte
Lumecare Carbomer soothing gel (best value for money)
Theoloz Duo
Hylo Night ointment (for night use)Blinking Exercises
Many people find blinking exercises to be effective. The mechanical action of blinking helps Meibomian glands secrete their oil, however the rate of blinking decreases with age and near vision tasks such as computer use or reading. A recommended regime to start with is to concentrate on blinking – so basically a big blink keeping the eye closed for about half a second, at least 20 times, four times a day.
Omega-3 dietary & Food Supplements
A diet high in Omega-3 fatty acids can help control blepharitis symptoms. Omega-3 supplementation improves tear film stability and dry eye symptoms.⁴⁻⁷
Omega-3 levels are particularly high in foods such as some fish (Herring, Sardines, Mackerel, Salmon and Swordfish), and also Flaxseed, Chia seeds and Walnuts.
Omega-3 dietary supplements such as PRN Omega Eye contain Omega-3 in triglyceride form, which has the best absorption by the body. Most fish-oil-based Omega-3 supplements are in the ethyl-ester form, which is less well absorbed and has a fishy aftertaste or odour. Omega-3 supplements have to be taken for at least 4 to 6 weeks before there is any improvement in blepharitis symptoms.
Vitamin supplements for age-related macular degeneration with Omega-3, such as Preservision, are also available. This is based on the AREDS2⁸ study and contains vitamins C & E, lutein, zeaxanthin, zinc and copper in addition to omega-3.