Blepharitis

Your ophthalmologist may suggest you to take blepharitis medicine or use a warm compress to treat the mild conditions of this disease . Here are some of the many blepharitis treatment techniques: –

• Antibiotics – If your medical tests show that you have a bacterial infection in your eyelids, as a blepharitis treatment, you may be recommended by your doctor to take antibiotics as eye drops, ointments, or creams.
• Steroid Medication – In this blepharitis treatment technique, you may be suggested to take steroid eye drops or ointments to control the inflammation of the eyelids.
• Treatment of underlying condition – In case your Blepharitis is a consequence of another medical condition such as seborrheic dermatitis of the eyelids or rosacea, treatment of the underlying condition can help cure this disease.
• Restasis for blepharitis treatment – Restasis refers to the prescription medication that helps relieve the symptoms of this medical condition.

Most patients with this medical condition find that the symptoms of Blepharitis are worse after sleep. The eyelids are closed for an extended period during sleep, which allows debris and oil to accumulate along the eyelids.

There are a few medical tests that are conducted to diagnose Blepharitis. Your eye doctor may either carefully examine your eyelids using a magnifying glass or take a sample of crust or oil from your eyelid.

Blepharitis can be classified into four major types. They are: –

• Staphylococcal Blepharitis – This type of Blepharitis is caused by staphylococcus bacteria. Normally, certain types of this bacteria can live on the human body without causing any harm. However, sometimes there can be some bacterial growth or overgrowth of some types of harmful bacteria that can infect the eyelashes and eyelids.
• Seborrheic Blepharitis – The patients of seborrheic blepharitis have greasy scales or flakes around the base of eyelashes.
• Ulcerative Blepharitis – In contrast with seborrheic blepharitis, ulcerative blepharitis patients have matted, hard crusts around the eyelashes. Removing these crusts can leave small sores that ooze and bleed.
• Meibomian Blepharitis – It is a meibomian gland inflammation of eyelids that obstructs the oil glands of the eyelid. This condition is a very common cause of chronic eye redness and discomfort.

In most cases, Blepharitis occurs when someone has too much bacteria on their eyelids and at the base of their eyelashes. Having bacteria on your skin is normal, but too much bacteria may cause problems. One can also contract this medical condition if the oil glands in their eyelids get irritated or clogged.

Blepharitis can get worse in air-conditioned environments, cold, windy weather, prolonged computer usage, sleep deprivation, contact lens and even general dehydration. It can also worsen in the presence of active skin diseases such as acne rosacea and seborrhoeic dermatitis.

To understand the difference between chronic blepharitis, anterior blepharitis, squamous Blepharitis and posterior Blepharitis, let us take a look at them one by one: –

• Chronic Blepharitis – It is a non infectious inflammation with an unknown cause. In this type of blepharitis, a gland called meibomian in our eyelids produces altered lipid secretion that causes the evaporation of tears.
• Anterior Blepharitis – It is commonly caused by bacteria, eyelash dandruff, or scalp dandruff. If this bacteria is present in excess amount, infection can occur.
• Squamous Blepharitis – It is a type of blepharitis that is caused by bacterias such as staphylococcus aureus and staphylococcus epidermidis.
• Posterior Blepharitis – This type affects the inner edge of our eyelids which happens when oil glands get clogged.