Question
I am a 55 year old male. I wear glasses for watching TV (long distance)Couple of years ago had a sty on my eye which the doctor lanced . After that had an infection in my eye and was given chloromex . I now have very scratchy eyes (gritty feeling) which comes and goes. There is no pain and my eyesight does not appear to be getting worse. An Optometrist said he thought I had a herpes infection on the lids of my eyes. I regularly watch my eyes with a baby shampoo and sometimes wipe my eyes with salt water. Is there anything else you could recommend I do. I have not used any eyedrops. I do supper from mild depression and take Nuzak .
Any help will be appreciated
Thank You
Leon
Answer
This is really hard to say without doing an exam, but from the fact that they have you doing lid scrubs with baby shampoo, it sounds like you may have blepharitis. Sometimes along with the usual type (anterior) of blepharitis, there is also posterior blepharitis, which is also called meibomianitis. It is often missed by doctors doing your exam because unless they think of specifically testing for it, they would not see it. You can try this treatment without a diagnosis because the treatment is harmless in any case. If it does not help in two or three weeks, then you can stop but if it helps, keep doing it.
For meibomianitis, we have you
1) start with hot compresses (warm or hot water on a washcloth, wring it out and hold the hot cloth over your eyes until it cools) Then
2)do the same scrubs you have been doing with the baby shampoo. Then
3) you do a lid massage - this is an attempt to squeeze the material out of the meibomian glands. These glands usually supply the oily layer of your tears but in meibomianitis, they get blocked. By massaging the lids, you are expressing the material out of the glands so they are no longer blocked, the oily layer of your tears becomes adequate so your tears stay on your eye longer and keep it wet better. So - to do this lid massage, you want to squeeze gently by pressing your finger along the edge of the eyelid - what we call the lid margin. You press by rolling the finger from the crease in your upper eyelid, down to the edge where the lashes come out. On the lower lid you roll upward toward the lower lid margin where the lashes are coming out.
Repeat this sequence of three steps twice a day for three weeks. If your eyes feel better, keep doing it. If they don't you need a different diagnosis. I hope this helps you.
