What is Blepharitis?
Are your eyelids or eyes red, sore, irritated, have a foreign body sensation or do you suffer from itchy or crusty eyelids? You may have blepharitis. It is a common condition that causes inflammation of either the inside or the outside of the eyelids.
Blepharitis is usually not an infection. Is it usually not contagious to other people. You may notice your symptoms to be either constant or intermittent. It often tends to be chronic or recur frequently and can be very bothersome.
Types of Disease
There are several causes for blepharitis. The two main types: anterior blepharitis and posterior blepharitis (also called meibomian gland disease MGD). It is important to distinguish between these two types to offer the proper treatments to our patients.
Blepharitis and Dry eyes
Many patients have dry eyes at the same time. It is important for Dr. Cindy Wang and I to perform a careful slit lamp examination to determine the proper cause of your symptoms. This will allow us to offer treatments that will offer the most improvement in your symptoms. We can also perform a tear osmolarity test that helps determine how dry your eyes are.
Treatment
The amount of treatment recommended often depends on the type of disease and the severity of the disease. If you have anterior blepharitis, we often recommend keeping the eyelids clean with baby shampoo scrubs or eyelid cleaning pads or solutions. Dr. Cindy Wang and I may also prescribe a short course of antibiotic eye ointment for your eyelids at bedtime.
If your disease is more posterior (meibomian gland disease), warm compresses can be very helpful. Lubrication drops can be helpful. Sometimes anti inflammatory drops can be helpful also. It is also important to treat concomitant dry eye disease to achieve relief of your symptoms.
Alaina Kronenberg, M.D.
Cataract Specialist
Comprehensive Ophthalmologist
Dearborn, Michigan 48126