How To Cure Blepharitis Fast: The Best Way
February 3, 2025 • 8:14 PM
From making it hard to get comfortable to interfering with your ability to wear contact lenses, there’s no discomfort quite like dry, itchy eyes.
If you feel like there’s something in your eye constantly or are dealing with crusting and flaking around your eyelashes and eyelids, you might be experiencing symptoms of blepharitis. Lucky for you, it’s a very treatable condition.
What Is Blepharitis?
Blepharitis is a condition caused by inflammation of the eyelids. Typically, it occurs in both eyes and affects the oil glands at the base of your eyelashes. These glands become clogged, creating irritation, redness, and inflammation.
There are many symptoms of blepharitis, including watery, red, swollen, or itchy eyes. The skin around your eyes may be crusty or flaking — it can look like dandruff on your eyelashes. Blinking more frequently or finding that your eyelids tend to stick when you blink can also be signs of this condition.
There are a few different types of blepharitis, including posterior blepharitis, anterior blepharitis, and chronic blepharitis. The good news is that it usually doesn’t impact your eyesight, and it isn’t contagious!
Should You See a Doctor?
Because blepharitis treatment is pretty straightforward, you can attempt simple treatment options at home before speaking to your doctor. However, if you notice that the symptoms aren’t improving or are getting worse, it might be worth a call to your eye doctor just to make sure there’s nothing else going on.
The symptoms of blepharitis can also be indicative of other skin conditions like a stye or even more serious infections, so if improving your eyelid hygiene doesn’t help, it’s possible there’s another culprit.
As mentioned, chronic blepharitis is fairly common, so recurring flare-ups aren’t necessarily something to worry about (though they are irritating).
In this case, your healthcare professional may be able to prescribe a steroid or oral antibiotics to help with this and prevent a bacterial infection or conjunctivitis from piggy-backing on the existing inflammation.
How Do You Treat Blepharitis at Home?
Home remedies for blepharitis can be very effective. Because you don’t need any complicated equipment, home care is often a great way to address your symptoms.
1. Warm Compresses
All you need to apply a warm compress is a washcloth and some warm water. Soak the clean cloth in the water, then rest it on your closed eyelids. This helps loosen any crusting or build-up, and it can help soothe irritation as a result of your swollen eyelids.
Rest the washcloth on your eyes until it’s cooled or becomes uncomfortable. You can repeat this process if desired or move to the next step.
2. Clean Area (Gently)
After applying your warm compress, it’s time to clean your eyes. You do this after the warm compress because the washcloth will have loosened any flaking skin or crusting, allowing you to gently wipe them away without further irritating the area.
Dilute baby shampoo and use this to clean your eyelids gently with a new, clean washcloth or with a cotton swab. Baby shampoo is specifically formulated to avoid irritating the eyes and skin, so it’s well-suited for eye care.
Repeat the process of a warm compress and a gentle clean two to four times a day.
3. Artificial Tears
Artificial tears are over-the-counter eye drops that can address the symptoms of blepharitis. They won’t cure the disease per se, but they can reduce redness, swelling, and itching. It’s best to use a preservative free artificial tears, to reduce the chances of additional irritation. Most of these eye drops can be used as much as required.
In addition to simply making you feel better, reduced symptoms mean less temptation to rub and scratch. This means less irritation and minimizes your risk of provoking some kind of infection or eye disease by introducing bacteria from your hands to your sensitive eyes.
4. Minimize Irritation
As with all inflammatory eye conditions, soothing your eye area when you have blepharitis is key. Avoid using anything on your eyes that may irritate them or clog your sensitive glands.
This means no eye makeup and, ideally, no contact lenses. If you must use eye makeup, apply it with a super clean applicator, and make sure to remove every trace at the end of the day with a gentle eyelid scrub.
5. Natural Remedies
In isolation, changing your diet or using natural oils isn’t likely to cure dermatitis of any kind — but in combination with the above steps, it may promote processes that help you improve faster.
You may also be able to address inflammation with changes to your diet. Supplements rich in omega-3 fatty acids may help support gland health, for example.
Tea tree oil is thought to be a natural antiseptic, and there’s some evidence that shampoo formulated with it helped to address symptoms of meibomian gland dysfunction. As with any treatment, if you experience side effects, stop what you’re doing immediately and speak to an ophthalmology professional.
How Long Does It Take To Fix Blepharitis?
If you’ve been trying to cure your blepharitis for a while and haven’t seen results, your dry eye may be caused by something else. Flaking and itchy eyes can also be caused by an allergy to your glasses, for instance.
If you have concerns about your eye health, it’s always worth a conversation with your optometrist or ophthalmologist.
The Bottom Line
Resolving blepharitis symptoms is often super simple. It’s something that you can often soothe from the comfort of your own home with little more than a bit of warm water.
The faster you address the problem, the faster it will go away, and the less likely you’ll be to experience any complications that come from untreated eyelid inflammation. While blepharitis can generally be managed at home, don’t hesitate to visit your doctor if symptoms persist!
Sources:
Blepharitis | National Library of Medicine
Diagnosis and Management of Blepharitis: An Optometrist’s Perspective | National Library of Medicine