How to Deal With Eye Crud or Blepharitis

Eye infections are a common occurrence. Many people think of "pink eye" (or conjunctivitis) as the usual eye infection; however, there are numerous other types of infections that form in and around the eyes. One of the more annoying ones is a condition called blepharitis, which is an inflammation of the eyelid itself. Blepharitis can be caused by common bacteria such as staphylococcus or by a condition such as scalp dandruff or acne rosacea.

Regardless of the cause, blepharitis comes with numerous symptoms including crusting of the eyelashes when awakening. The crusting can be annoying to the point that the blepharitis sufferer may actually have some difficulty opening their infected eye easily due to stuck-together "crud" that forms overnight.

This article is going to help you self-treat "eye crud" simply and effectively.

Things You'll Need

• A basic understanding of eye infections
• Compress cloth (disposable preferred)
• Baby shampoo
• Medications (if prescribed)

Show More

Instructions

• 1

  Begin by reviewing the symptoms (as you should when self-treating any condition) to determine whether to seek urgent medical attention. The typical symptoms of blepharitis are: burning, redness, excessive tearing, frothing tears and eyelash crusting upon awakening. While these symptoms are annoying and may result in some slight blurring of vision, there should never be severe eye pain, sight loss or double vision. If any of the latter symptoms occur, immediate medical attention is required.

• 2

  Treat the crusting with some warm water compresses. It is important to remember that if you use a compress you should always test the temperature for comfort first before applying directly to your eye. The compress should be warm but not hot. Also, if you are using a non-disposable compress, such as a face cloth, only use it once, then launder it. Using the same cloth over again can result in reinfecting your eye.

• 3

  Add some baby shampoo to the warm water if the crusting is thick and hard to remove, which happens sometimes. The baby shampoo will help by gently removing the exudate (crust).

• 4

  Many times, blepharitis becomes a chronic condition and your health care provider may prescribe antibiotic and/or steroid eye drops or ointments. It is important to remember that any eye medications or even over-the-counter drops should only be used by one person. Sharing eye medications can result in transferring one person's infection to another person's eye. Never share eye drops of any kind!

• 5

  Treat any underlying causes that my have caused the blepharitis in the first place. Keeping dandruff and acne rosacea under control can help prevent or reduce reoccurrences.

• 6

  Wash your hands carefully BEFORE and AFTER you treat an infected eye. Washing your hands before treatment will help prevent introducing additional bacteria into the eye. Washing your hands after will help prevent spreading the germs to other parts of your body. (It is easy to transfer infections to moist areas such as the vagina or ****.)