Natural Cures for Blepharitis

This cure for blepharitis is a very affordable, easy to find grocery item - Wet Ones wipes.

I've had blepharitis for 20 years. I was told repeatedly that I will have it my whole life and that it can't be cured.

But there is a cure. The active ingredient in Wet Ones wipes (red label - NOT the blue label/sensitive version) is Benzethonium Chloride 0.3%. It kills staph.

Don't use the blue label/sensitive version - it has no active ingredient. Don't use generic/store brand versions of Wet Ones - they don't have enough Benzethonium Chloride.

Because this is the first mention of this easy cure, you might be tempted to dismiss it. I encourage you to check this thread of people who have used this cure, including lots of feedback from the woman who originally discovered it. https://patient.info/forums/discuss/one-week-using-wet-ones-with-benzethonium-chloride-62456

Cut wipes into small pieces and put them in a glass bowl with a lid. Wipe the lash line 3 to 4 times per day. Don't rinse, let them dry. My eyes feel no irritation at all. Wipe lashes less frequently as the blepharitis goes away. It will eventually be gone or easily managed.

After 20 years, I am shocked and so happy that this can be fixed.

Diane,

How are your eyes doing now? Has anyone heard of wet ones to use for blepharitis? Also, my eyelashes are falling out. Has this happened to anyone else?

ACV for blepharitis

Okay guys just want you to know I've done this treatment with ACV and distilled water now for 3 days. Scrubbing my lashes with a Q Tip on my eyes and my eyes have not felt this good in almost a year. This is definitely working for me. Thank you all.

I had gone to my ophthalmologist about 3 weeks ago, with complaints of itchy red eyes. He told me I lived in Phoenix, where the weather was hot and to drink more water. Last night I discovered what was wrong with my eyes (blepharitis), through this EC site. I used ACV mixed with water and a Q Tip, and literally scrubbed my eyelashes with it. It stung a lot, so I think I probably did not use enough water, but I repeated it again this morning, and my eyes feel SO much better. I will continue to do this 3 times a day, until I am healed. Thanks again for providing this wonderful site for those of us who know doctors just "practice" on us, which is why its called "medical practice."

Wow!!! Thank you for taking the time to post this!! Excellent material from a reputable source.

Dear Gert,

I guess it isn't known if the baby shampoo or tea tree oil are causing the reaction. It could be the chemicals in the baby shampoo. My daughter has skin outbreaks if she uses the wrong shampoo. For that reason, I would hesitate to use baby wipes which often have chemicals in them which can cause skin reactions. (I had to make home made baby wipes for one of my children because of sensitive skin issues.)

Perhaps you would consider the honey? It is healing to skin and 100% pure. A local honey in a glass jar would be ideal.

I also really like castor oil for skin issues. It is quite nourishing to dry skin.

You might check out Earth Clinic's pages on perioral dermatitis, as perhaps that is what you are dealing with and the remedies may be helpful either way.

https://www.earthclinic.com/cures/perioral-dermatitis.html

~Mama to Many~

I had itchy, flaky skin above my eyelids (not the lids, but the area above the lid & below the eyebrow). I thought it was blepharitis and proceded with the baby shampoo/tea tree oil mixture to wash the area several times/day. I washed my whole head with this mix, which may have been a mistake, because now behind my ears is dry and flaky and oh, so itchy! . I have since stopped using it on my whole head, but this itchy dry skin doesn't seem to be getting better. Also, for the other area, I'm still washing 2x/day with the shampoo mix but then I'm using theives oil w/ a drop of tea tree on it for overnight (apply w/ a qtip). That seems to have improved, but it still itches and gets flaky every 5th day or so. What changes should I make? I have wet ones at work, so I can swab off with those if I should. I don't want to make any changes until I get some advice from you all here at EC.

Ophelia, you don't wash off? I couldn't use Wet Ones irritated my eyes. So bought a box of Benzalkonium Chloride towelettes 0.13%. They are good but use no tears baby shampoo after 10 minutes. I didn't know it could be left on. I do follow everything else. Bead compress in AM gentle dry eye wash then I use BC, 10 minutes later wash off. One eye is bad the other is very mild. Got this after lid surgery. Idiot eye specialist told me it was my imagination. So one eye went untreated until I found another specialist who would take a look. 2 minutes after looking at my eyes diagnosed it.

I usually just saturate 3% H2O2 with Borax. Even with eyes closed -- when opened after misting the corners of the eyes and eyelids get a pretty good treatment. I consider it safe myself and like I said I can even open my eyes and allow a little solution to get in while misting with no side effects other than a couple of minutes of sting which goes away after you blink a couple dozen times...

Can you tell me specifically the proportions of the solution you used to mist?

Update I almost can not believe it.

I did another treatment to make sure last night. Borax H202 Misted directly into eyes...

Major eye irritation of a week completely gone instantly. Reminds me of my first discovery of this Rosacea Cure.

The crazy thing is when you read about Tea Tree Oil taking three weeks?

Borax/H202 seems immediate!

I am going to start taking baths with this combo.

And I'll try and wash my pillow cases more often too.

I guess I had mites in my eyes...

Bye Bye mites.

I'm starting to think the Dry skin side effect is totally worth it.

But of course one can always use their favorite moisturizer..

But here's the irony: Too much Coconut, Jojoba, Squalene, Argon -- you-name-it oil -- TOO close to the eyes creates day long irritation. Borax H202 solution misted straight to the EYES stings for maximum 5 -- but last night less than 3 minutes. I think I killed the mites around my eyes and I am very happy!

Breakthrough for Blepharitis

Major Pending Breakthrough: H202+Borax misted directly into eyes... Thanks to Earth Clinic I basically cured my 20 year long Rosacea thanks to this remedy. Strongly about 3 years ago I discovered it was re-manifesting even after treatments. This really upset me and I expanded my research and somehow amazingly stumbled upon Zinc Pyrithione by considering DErmitis as another option maybe intermingled with the Demodex Mite based Rosacea that was clear after my initial success.

Anyway recently I felt it time for a Zinc Pyrithione touch-up after some allergy symptoms hitting my eyes and upper cheek (which I have also considered as a possible side-effect to sinus allergy trying to purge through the face) All of a sudden a day later my eyes got worse and for the first time in my life I became convinced I was having severe EYE allergy. I do have three cats and am in the end of our long Vermont winter not cleaning enough with closed windows etc...

Since I have always freely sprayed h2o2+borax onto my face, head and neck with eyes closed; and then opened my eyes after under a minute and endured the sting, dabbed the corners of my eyes, and was fine 1 minutes later: I decided to make absolutely sure I got my eyelids this time and actually opened my eyes briefly during the misting. This time the sting lasted a bit longer but I was fine in 3-5 minutes, no burning at all just a slightly residual sting and watering eyes... This morning NO itchy burning eyes at ALL. Wow, I might be premature here with this excitement but right now I am thinking since the Zinc Pyrithione is so irritating to my eyes -- I never get closer than eye brows under-eye bag area and bridge of nose -- that maybe the mites migrated up tiny my eyes after the last Zinc treatment. My next move is to find the right amount of borax (no h202) to add to my Neti Pot instead of Salt!

Part of this testimonial is with in mind Ted's mention (I'm sure for good reason) of avoiding the yes by wearing Goggles. I say no need to avoid the eyes. If anything my vision is usually better in the morning after a misting -face Borax treatment. The sting spraying heavily with closed eyes after opening them last about a minute maximum -- and about 3-5 if done with eyes open. No other side effects here to report except like I said: Improved Vision...

I had painful dry eye/blepharitis. Went to a dry eye "expert" and went back and forth with all kinds of prescriptions that I am sure made things worse. After over a year of that nonsense, I did this:

I put a heated gel mask over my eyes when I woke up and before I went to bed. That helped "melt" the plugged up gunk clogging the oil glands on my lash line. Importantly, after warming up the lash line for about 15 minutes, I washed my eyelids with baby shampoo. That helped to further break up and dissolve the gunk build up. Finally, the third part of this process is to take a dot of castor oil (organic, hexane free, cold pressed), and swipe your eyelids with it.

My eyes felt better immediately. It took a week or so to see an uninflamed eye margin. Since my gunk is all cleared out, I only use the castor oil. I swipe my eyelids with it before I go to bed. My eyes are perfect. I've been back to the dry eye "expert" for a complete exam to see if the castor oil might be doing something bad to the insides of my eyes or something. No. They are perfect.

I will never stop putting a drop on my lash line every night. Honestly, when I was suffering with dry eye, I thought I would have it forever. I was depressed. I couldn't wear eye makeup for a year. My eyes hurt like hell just from air! I was constantly putting drops in my eyes. That helps the symptom temporarily. For me, the cause was clogged up oil glands related to my lashes. Why that happened in the first place, I have no idea. But now, I am fine. If anyone can take what I've shared and heal themselves as I have, I'd be real happy about that. Good luck!!!!

I agree. I never had any eyelid swelling or eyelash loss, nada, zip. The dr convinced me I had to put plugs in to be prescribed a dry eye medication as he insisted I had (which I don't believe I did have because I never had any indication or symptoms). I was there for a regular exam! Turned out my insurance did not require this to decide whether I needed dry eye formula or not. I was furious because my eyes were a complete mess with a lot of swelling under and upper lids both. This was five years ago and to this day I have nothing but misery with my eyes. I have some days they are symptom free but this is short lived. I have tried everything and whenever I've went in for advice on this they get worse. I'm completely done with that and refuse any treatments, just check my eyes and let me go! I insist they wipe off all of the equipment before exams.

I put a gate on my bedroom door to keep my dog out and this has been helpful somewhat. I will say that we have had dogs for 35+ years and I never reacted to them, they are a hypo allergenic breed. I was just reading a gal insisted to try borax for eyelash loss as she explains it is a mite. This is what the eye clinic did say and that some people are "just allergic" to it. Well I highly doubt some are just allergic to it after getting an exam and turning up with it. I am going to try the borax and see how that works. Right now I use a clean warm washcloth on them at least 3 times a day and wash them with a gentle cleanser.

I found this through lots of research. I believe demodex is the cause of my eye issues and my paplopustular rosacea, which is my major issue/concern. Doctors aren't well versed in demodex mites or they just don't believe it's a real issue, they don't know how to find them. I've been using tea tree oil in baby shampoo and already notice a difference. I should have used tto when I thought it was demodex months ago. Oh well, we live and we learn-to trust ourselves. Mine started as scalp sores and moved down my face. Good luck!!!

Hi, can I reuse the ingredients over again or do I I have to make them fresh every day? Thank you. I'm going to try this. I'm going crazy, my eyes are so bad I have a prescription that cost $600 and it didn't work.

I would also like to recommend the post from Ophelia. I am so grateful to have found it, especially because she explains that there may be exacerbations along the way and to just continue treatment anyways. This really helped because exacerbation did occur. I went to Oregon in June and developed this weird red puffy scaly thing on both upper eyelids. I have never had any issues with my eyes before so I figured it was something I was allergic to in that location. Over the following several weeks it got worse. I looked like a drug addict when I woke up, triangular red marks under my eyes, puffiness and inflammation on upper eyelids. Upon optometrists recommendations I tried eyedrops for allergies as well as natural tears. No difference at all after 2 weeks. I tried Manuka honey, no difference. All this time, I washed my face with water and wore no make-up. I went to a dermatologist and she recommended steroid treatment and to wash with baby shampoo. She literally told me I could never even touch my eyes again without an inflammatory reaction developing afterwards. I decided to forgo the steroid and try the wet ones instead. I followed the regimen Ophelia laid out. I saw improvement after a couple days. After a few weeks, it seemed to get worse. I stuck with regimen though and within a couple days it subsided. It took about 4 weeks for blepharitis to subside completely. I still continued using wet ones for another month though just to be sure. I haven't used them now for 2 weeks and haven't had recurrence. My eyes are completely normal. I was so discouraged prior to this treatment. I couldn't imagine dealing with this for the rest of my life, which it was looking as if that would be the case. I'm incredibly grateful for this post because it truly is a cure!

BlephX treatment is a gimmic, I know, I work with my doctor that does it, They are all shocked. How patients even pay for this treatment. But these patients are suffering so they would do anything to help them feel better, this treatment uses saline and some tea tree oil with a rotating brush to clean the lids, that's all but they charge a LOT of money for it you can do yourself at home.

Can I use Manuka Honey with MGO of 250? or would that irritate it because the MGO is too high? Any advice is appreciated.

Hooray, finally a solution for this maddening eye condition. After working thru some of the other posts, most made it worse,

I tried this method with success. Here's what I did...

I used 2 drops of organic baby shampoo, 1 tablespoon of Epsom salts dissolved in 1/2 cup hot water, or microwave it.

To apply dip 2 cotton round makeup pads into the heated solution, squeeze excess liquid & place on closed eyes. I then placed a heated, in microwave, damp face washer folded over & then a small heated wheat bag to hold it in place, lie flat for 10 mins AM+ PM. The wheat bag held it's heat for 10 mins easily.

By Day 2 I was feeling less desperate & I have continued for a week and I now have almost normal looking eyes, apart from my pesky glaucoma!!! If you don't have a wheat bag, buy an old pair of corduroy trousers from an op shop & cut the legs into pieces, sew & fill with wheat, which can be bought loose very cheaply...hand sew end to finish. Also it doesn't work as well without the baby shampoo, go for a soap & sulphate free brand. Best of luck...🎆

I too have been struggling with blepharitis for 6 months. I was put on many different steroid ointments which produced much more eyelid swelling and inflimation all around my eye down to my cheek. I was given erythromyacin 2 weeks ago. How long did it take to start working?

Can't thank you enough for posting this. I've been suffering with this for over 20 years, I basically gave up, you wouldn't believe what I've been through because of it but I'm going to try this and pray that it works for me too. I've suffered so much thank you again I'm glad you are no longer suffering with it.

It has been a dark and rainy summer. Hardly any sun. Therefore lack of Vitamin D. Blephartis is horrible, painful and trying every treatment. I wash my face and clean my eyes, moisturize eyes with antibiotic ointment called erythromycin because the Steroid eye ointment Tobradex burned by eyelid. I increased my Vitamin D to 4000iu. a day and added 2000 iu of Vitamin C while treating the condition. Much better but it took a long time because of the steroid ointment, I had to start from square 1.

Warm Compress for MGD Chalazion, Blepharitis & Sterile Honey Eye drops that work!

Okay first up,

I would like to say, if you have dry eye symptoms - check them out with a optometrist asap! (it could prevent a whole host of issues from developing - I didn't because I live remotely so couldn't and the doctors said "it was nothing", so I trusted, but I dearly wish I had acted then, now!)

About me: 45, female, genrally very healthy. I experienced dry eyes on occasion through out my life- then I moved to a climate where aircon is required almost all the time and started seriously getting dry eyes after a few years, then came the lumps and now the blepharitis...

Secondly I have not used this Warm Compress method yet, but as someone experiencing all the listed issues I have tried many many types of compresses and treatments with little success and really felt very in the in the dark about how to make a compress effective.

Then I came across this link from an optometry site and just had to share!

http://optometrytimes.modernmedicine.com/optometrytimes/news/using-warm-compresses-treat-meibomian-gland-disease?page=0,0

Lastly I have also just started using this product which feels amazing and is natural! (yes it will sting - but as I have been putting straight honey in my eyes prior, it is fine to me ;)

Manuka Honey Antibacterial Gel (you can find it on ebay)

I have also discovered there could be a hormonal link that isn't being addressed - so here is the info in case it can help you.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12114274

Kindest regards,

G

Blepharitis treatment using castor oil. Do you wash the castor oil off your eyelids the next morning and do you also wash out your eyes with water due to putting a drop of oil in them the night before. Nervous about this treatment.

Blepharitis cure all

I first tried vinegar and water, nasal salt rinses etc and nothing was soothing my eye lids. Then I tried honey and due to its natural antibacterial properties as well as being very nourishing and healing, I got relief. But here's ultimately what worked -

Get cystane eye wipes and cystane high performance eye drops from the pharmacy.

Also get baby wipes that are (and this is key) parfum or scent free, sensitive, non-alcohol, non-chlorine. Wipe and cleanse the eyes. Then take medical grade vitamin A & E oil that you can find in a health food store.

Combine that oil with a couple of drops of tea tree oil. Massage all over face. Watch as your skin thanks you and you finally find ultimate relief and a preventive measure that will keep another reoccuring infection at bay. Continue even after the rash is gone to add the vitamin A&E oil into your moisturizer to build up the eye lids and keep them strong.

Finally, keep a bottle of nizoral on hand. Most people get this because they have a slight to major dandruff issue by producing too much cebum and the flakes are actually fungus and can cause infection. Even now and then, you have to cleanse your scalp if you're prone to this. As it is a fungus and not a bacteria based infection, please do not get prescriptions of antibiotics from your doctor. All you are doing is killing the good and bad bacteria in your gut and compromising your immune system further.

Get your rest. Go to bed early. And another thing I did was I threw out all my makeup and washed and cleansed all my makeup brushes. Bacteria and fungus can linger in those products and brushes wish can also cause this. Do a thorough clean-up.

I would like to recommend the post by ophelia (Dana Point CA) on 08/07/2014 using antibacterial hand wipes on eye lids.

My eyes were itching really bad but NOT NOW, I did not cut the towelette into pieces liked she did, I folded the towelette and put it into a sandwich bag to reuse it and replaced it every few days I am also taking n-acetyl-L-cysteine 600 mg one daily I don't use the eye drops or Doctors or the baby shampoo or anything else anymore thanks for sharing this web site.

First, your eye doctor will tell you to wash with baby shampoo. If you're lucky they will tell you to dilute it. Most baby shampoos contain sodium laurel sulfate so if you're allergic to this, it's not the way to go. I use an SLS free baby shampoo diluted. Eye professionals generally do not tell you to change your pillow cases every night, wash and double rinse them in hot water. They do not tell you to make sure you are cleaning your eyeglasses twice daily making sure to clean well around the nose pieces. Pushing glasses up on your nose throughout the day pushes oil, makeup, bacteria into the tear ducts and eyes. It's surprising the goo that accumulates and more surprising people who do not clean this out. If you haven't had your nose pieces changed in three months, this needs to be done. You will not get control of this infection without paying attention to eyebrows, facial skin, and hair. Clean your hairbrushes.

I've had great results using a tea tree pad along the lid margins ever so gently, but I also use this pad on my entire face giving extra attention to the brows and nasal creases. I always do a final rinse with saline water around the eyes as chlorinated water is not good with this condition and may even be the cause by damaging the oil glands. I use a clean bath cloth on which I squirt saline water and nuke for twenty seconds twice daily. Over top of this I place an eye mask. But please make sure you are not reinfecting by considering the above suggestions. I hope someone is helped by this.

Hi Michelle,

N.Z.Manuka honey, has been hailed as a wonder product for many years. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous people have climbed on the band wagon. They try to get "a slice of the action" as the stuff sells for SO much more than regular honey, which does not apparently have the "X factor"! N.Z. was a bit slow to implement standards and was too trusting that people would do the decent thing and NOT misrepresent products that were not up to scratch. Ha! However, you can now source Manuka honey that should state that it is the genuine article and have that claim backed up by conforming to a national standard.I would recommend a product by the C-----A, company from New Zealand, but there will be others also.Good luck with your quest and check out carefully before you buy!

Being that you are in New Zealand, you have access to the purest form of Manuka Honey which people on here keep saying works well. I want to try it but it's so hard to determine whether or not it's genuine.

Blepharitis - Tea tree oil - Inhale steam

Last winter had a cold + sinusitis which, among others, battled by inhaling steam - few drops of essential oils in pot of boiling water. As I was alternating nose and mouth opening over pot briefly under the towel, happened to move over and cover eye lids as well (with eyes closed). Having eye infection frequently (must be related to contact lenses solution), I noticed this time eye infection got cleared without using any creams or eye drops. Itching stopped almost instantly after first steam - inhale session.

Steam with few drops of tea tree oil also seem easier to apply, compared to poultice or oil mixture.

When my daughter was younger, she had severe case of blepharis that she developed chalazions. My doctor told me to wash with diluted baby shampoo and to use warm compresses. My husband preferred to use occusoft cleaning pads or liquid cleanser because he was afraid of the soap stinging her eyes. I would definitely avoid using Wet Ones because it's not made for the eye area.

I'm concerned about the toxicity of the "Wet Ones" wipes. Any comments on that? I'm also wondering if the folks who had success with Wet Ones also did any sort of heat/scrubbing/declogging before using the wet Ones?

Thanks!

After reading this site about manuka honey for blepharitis, I tried a honey called Valentines and it is very very strong and burnt when I applied it, however, I used a small amount in organic coconut oil as a carrier and overnight my eyes have settled down and feel much better. I stopped washing them with warm water as I think this affects the natural moisturing affect in the eyes if you do it too much. The coconut oil does affect your vision temporarily but hopefully it will cure the condition and I won't need it except when I'm sleeping to control it. I wonder whether it is from being tested as every time I go to get them tested or get new glasses I seem to end up with it again. Only to be told its because of the sub tropical heat which causes it.

Hope this helps someone else as this site has helped me. Cheers

Can you tell me the name of the lotion you use please or its ingredients?

Thank you all for posting your experiences! It helps to know there are some things I can do topically along with what I'm doing below.

:-)

Went to my naturopath about this condition. He said my case was due to yeast overgrowth and put me on a candida killing diet along with:

Undecyn (2 caps 2X a day. Kills candida--which is essentially yeast overgrowth.)

Pau d'arco (2 caps 2X a day. Sooths rashes etc.) and

Probiotics (2 caps 2X a day. Healthy gut flora to replace candida).

It worked! (Granted, it took a couple of weeks for this to work.)

Interestingly, after having to go on 500 mg of Amoxicillin 2X a day to kill a tooth infection (in the bone) this flared up again. (Antibiotics kill good gut flora.)

So, back to the original cure... Meanwhile, I'm trying honey and coconut oil topically.

Dear Judy,

I read your comments regarding using wet ones for your eyes. I was wondering if you used heat compresses every day or at all? I am using the wet ones too and have clogged glands but I worry the heat compresses could encourage bacterial growth. Since you were successful could you tell me what you did? Thank you so much, Dawn

How is the honey applied? And how many times day pls.... Tq n Regards

I have had blepharitis for many years. I can't count all the treatments my opthalmologist prescribed. Everything he gave me either didn't work, made my eyes sore or made me sick. Recently, I tried the treatment advised on Earth Clinic for dry eye and found it has cleared up the blepharitis. About two weeks ago, I started dabbing my eye lids with a solution of 1/2 cup distilled water with 1/2 tsp. baking soda. I do this with my eyes closed. When they are dry, I redo. At first I was doing this 3 times per day. Now I just do it regularly morning and night. All the crusts that would form overnight are just about gone. My eyes are less sensitive to light, grittyness is gone, and my vision is improving. And, best of all, my eyes feel really good. Apparently, baking soda alkalizes and germs can't live in an alkaline environment. Hope this helps someone.

How much oil do you "drink"? Do you mix it with something?

The dry eye/blepharitis market is a 4 billion dollar industry and growing. Considering that it is possible to contract the bacteria that causes some forms of blepharitis is it possible that patients are contracting blepharitis during eye exams? This would also explain the dramatic increase in the prevalence of the problem. I never had any symptoms associated with blepharitis until approximately two weeks after my routine eye exam. From that point on I have been suffering with MGD/blepharitis. As I recall that day, I did not see the physician, nor assistance wash their hands. They also used the same bottle of drops to dilate pupils on several patients. I am convinced that I, and many others contracted blepharitis at the hands of our health care professionals.