Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Blecchh to blepharitis

Pretty clouds and trees
I'm starting this post with a picture of some pretty clouds, so that those who don't want to go further and see pictures of blepharitis can leave now!

Last week I noticed that my left eye was itchy and uncomfortable, tearing badly, but then again, it didn't seem all that bad. Until a few nights ago when I could hardly stand to touch my eyelid, and it had become very painful and swollen. Like this:
From ByeByeDoctor website
I found this picture that pretty much shows what my eyelid looked like. I've never had anything like it before, and although I do get an occasional stye, this was different. No bump and WAY more painful. So of course I went to the internet to find out how to treat this condition, and I learned that warm compresses applied several times a day would help to unplug the glands in the eyelid, and that there was probably a bacterial infection as well.

I went to the drugstore to buy myself some stuff to help me out, so that I wouldn't have to apply a warm washcloth for ten to fifteen minutes by continually having to change out the cloth, as it would only stay warm for a few minutes. I bought a hot water bottle and some eyelid wipes, and something that appealed to me called "Eye-Press" that promised to get warm on its own and be reusable up to ten times (in a package of ten). Well, it sort of worked the first time I used it, but I was then supposed to put it in a bowl of water in the microwave for four minutes to get it back to a usable state. It exploded. After wondering what I had done wrong, I found some reviews on line and learned that I'm not alone in being very unhappy with this product. Don't buy it!

The hot water bottle would have worked, but it's big and unwieldy, and not what I needed. Back to the warm washcloth, trekking back and forth to the sink. Little by little my eye has been getting better, and now a stye has formed and the swelling of the eyelid has begun to recede. I managed with my trusty iPhone to get a picture of my own eye to show you.
The stye is in the outer corner, inside the eyelid
You can see how much better it is today, but I am still applying compresses. In the middle of the night, the solution hit me! How about those little hand warmers that I carry on my hikes? You take it out of the package and it stays warm for hours. So at midnight last night I opened a package and wrapped it in one of the eyelid wipes. It soothed me enough so I could get back to sleep, and this morning that little hand warmer was still ready for me to use on my eye. I had tucked it under my pillow and was astounded at how warm it remained! Here's a link to the hand warmers (Hot Hands) that I bought from Amazon.

So remember, any time you need to apply warm compresses to something, this trick should work for you. Plus those hand warmers are great to tuck into a glove or mitten when your hands get cold while hiking or otherwise playing around outdoors in the winter.
:-)

16 comments:

  1. Gee, how awful. I am glad you found a better way to treat your eye. Hope it doesn't happen again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. sorry about the eye! but glad it is getting better - and clever you on the hand warmers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm sorry that your eyelid is inflamed, and I'm glad that you found something that gives you relief as it heals. Take care of you....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yikes, this looks painful! But what a good solution you found.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ouch. And repeat.
    Love your ingenuity, and hope that poor sore eye continues to settle.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm sorry - hopefully you are on the mend!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I hope that you recuperate quickly. Do get it checked to make sure there isn't something more serious going on.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I kept expecting you to say you called your doctor or got an appointment. I'm wondering why you didn't. But I guess your DYI worked.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good to know. And I hope you are doing much better now. My eye is twitching just reading this.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh, you poor thing!! That looks so painful! I hope this goes away now quickly since you found a good solution for the warmth. Owwie! Owwie!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ouch, that looks nasty. So glad you are doing better. I am a huge fan of Hot Hands. Good to know of another use for them. Fell better and be all well soon.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh wow- I know that hurts. My g daughter has one and I told her to put warm compresses on it...I don't know any other way to heal it. Those handwarmers are a great idea..I will have to tell her that when I see her later.
    Feel better!

    ReplyDelete
  13. That's a really good idea to use the handwarmers. Hope your eye is doing better!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Handwarmers come in handy! My last stye we used a warm moist washcloth and then a rice bag that was warm wrapped in a towel..it was bulky but worked. I am going to pick up some more handwarmers before winter. I keep some in the car in case of emergency.
    I hope you eye is all better now:)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yikes! That looks painful-- I am so sorry but glad to hear your eye is starting to improve.
    Thanks for the tip on how you handled the warming-- who know it would be such a process.
    Hang in there and feel better.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm so glad you were able to get some relief! That looked quite painful! Thank you for the tip about the hand warmers. Art used a small blue ice like compress that worked well to cool by putting it in the freezer and microwave when he needed a warm compress for his jaw after the implant surgery.

    ReplyDelete

I really appreciate your comments! If you see a word verification box here, just ignore it. I don't use the darn thing and Blogger is trying to get us to use it, I guess. Ignore it and your comment will still appear.