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Eyelid Infection: Treatment, Cost and Side Effects

Last Updated: Apr 10, 2024

What is the treatment ?

The human eye is covered by a thin layer of skin known as an eyelid. The eyelid is opened by the levator palpebrae superioris muscle, which originates on the lesser wing of the sphenoid bone. The most common problem is blepharitis, which is a chronic bacterial infection, infecting the meibomian glands.

Symptoms include swelling, redness, and itchiness, the areas of your upper and lower eyelids were outlined with soft and greasy scales crusting of the eyelids and eyelashes sticking together on walking. This can be caused by a variety of issues, like when oils from these glands change into acid-like compounds, which can irritate the eye, and even turn it red. Bacterial growth and skin irritation are encouraged by excess oils.

You should only be concerned if swelling gets worse, does not resolve despite home treatment, the redness spreads to other parts of the eyelid, styes become recurrent, or the swelling is anything other than a stye. If any of this occurs, you should consult your doctor. Approximately 37 percent of an average Indian ophthalmologist's patients have had symptoms of blepharitis at some point. Conventional wisdom about eyelid inflammation says that older people get symptoms more often, however, it is found that younger people report more and more frequent blepharitis symptoms. Dry eyes also often occur along with blepharitis. This causes confusion about whether dry eyes are caused by blepharitis, or blepharitis is caused by dry eyes.

People who support this theory say that dry eye is a late manifestation of blepharitis, and the treatment of blepharitis will reduce, or maybe even completely remove dry eye symptoms.

How is the treatment done?

Firstly, you must make a visit to your ophthalmologist. This will help determine the cause of your eyelid inflammation. Infections of the eyelid are usually caused by the fungi and bacteria present in the atmosphere. The symptoms of eyelid infection include swelling, itching and redness of the eyelids. The effective treatments for eyelid infections is discussed below.

Medication - In the case of infection, antibiotics are generally prescribed by the doctor. Antibiotics kill the bacteria which have caused the infection of the eyelid. The antibiotics may be in the form of a pill, ointment, or liquid drop form. Drops are generally preferred as they directly reduce the swelling and kill the bacteria. The drops are also helpful in protecting the eyes against further infections.

It must also be kept in mind to take care of the eyes against further infections. Thus, one is advised to stay at home. If the infection is communicable, glasses should be wrong to prevent the spread of the infection. Apply makeup on the eyelid should also be prohibited. If the infected person wears contact lenses, then they should switch to glasses for the time being. The crusty dirt which is exuded from the eye at intervals should also be wiped away gently by a ball of cotton. One should also avoid touching eyes with dirty hands.

In normal cases, the eye infections resolve on their own within a week. However, if any of the symptoms mentioned above persist for more than a week, then it is advisable to consult a doctor. Blepharitis can be efficiently be controlled, but if you do not attempt to do this, your eyelids and eye could be scarred, or even injured.

Who is eligible for the treatment?(When is the treatment done ?)

Anyone who has blepharitis is eligible for the treatment. It can result in a stye. Usually, a stye occurs on a head, and it will then proceed to break open and will bring out pus onto the skin. After this, it will disappear. Styes are not serious, and are like pimples.

Who is not eligible for the treatment?

If you are experiencing blepharitis-like symptoms, like swelling, redness, and itchiness, the margins of your upper and lower eyelids being covered with soft, greasy scales, crusting of the eyelids and eyelashes sticking together on walking, it is always good to consult your ophthalmologist. Like previously said, blepharitis is very common, and not very serious, unless you leave it alone. If you do this, your eyelids or eyes could be injured or scarred.

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Are there any Side Effects?

Blepharitis is a very common disease, and not very serious. It can easily be cured, and nothing serious occurs unless you don't give it attention at all, which could lead to injury or scarring of the eyes or eyelids. However, dry eyes can also occur along with blepharitis, so common that people are confused about whether dry eyes are caused by blepharitis, or blepharitis is caused by dry eyes. In fact, many researchers and ophthalmologists have proposed that both of these problems could be part of a single chronic eye problem, which is called DEBS, or dry eye blepharitis syndrome. These doctors and researchers say that dry eyes are a late manifestation of blepharitis, and dry eyes could be removed by treating blepharitis.

What are the post-treatment guidelines?

The patient is required to maintain eyelid hygiene. This can be done by first washing the hands, and then dampening a clean washcloth with warm water. Then one must take the washcloth and place it over their closed eyelids for a few minutes, after which one should gently rub your eyelid corners with the cloth. After this, he or she can open their eyes. You must take care to not press on your eye hard. At first, you may have to do this several times daily, for almost five minutes at a time. Later on, you may have to do it only about once every day.

How long does it take to recover?

Blepharitis is a very common condition. Recovery from blepharitis will not take long. You can even think of it as a pimple. It is the equivalent to a boil which occurs elsewhere on the skin. A normal boil has a recovery time of approximately two weeks.

What is the price of the treatment in India?

The price of treatment in Inida is 200 to 1500 rupees and it is minimal. It only includes the price of the visit to your ophthalmologist, and the creams he suggests for usage.

Are the results of the treatment permanent?

If the infection reoccurs, you may need antibiotic ointment, or maybe even oral antibiotics. The home remedies which can help in the onset of eyelid infections are to take care of the eyelid by washing the eye at regular intervals. However, make sure not to overdo it as it can irritate the eye. Warm compresses are also beneficial to reduce the swelling of the eyelids. Although, if these remedies do not provide relief or if the swelling is increasing, then one must consult the doctor.

What are the alternatives to the treatment?

There are many things you can do to treat blephartitis, but if you do not treat it at all, at may lead to relatively serious repurcussions.

References

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Written ByDr. Anurag Agarwal MS - Ophthalmology,MBBSOphthalmology
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