Chronic blepharitis is a chronic inflammation of the edge of the eyelids and generates a lot of discomfort, often not being diagnosed correctly or being ignored.
Patients feel an itchy, scratching sensation, the eyelids are red, inflamed and often spontaneous tears create discomfort and inability to perform long-term visual activities. All ages are affected.
The causes of blepharitis are multiple but there is clearly a genetic predisposition. Additional factors that contribute to the onset of this disease are constitutional (patients have glands in the eyelid structure that do not work properly or patients have an allergic, atopic terrain), infectious (bacteria-most commonly Staphylococcus aureus), parasites (most common in the last years being Demodex). Last but not least, many of these patients do not wear glasses or have inappropriate glasses, which maintains the inflammation of the eyelids in an effort to compensate for poor quality vision.
In most cases, the patient receives an ointment or drops and after a short time the symptoms reappear.
Because it is a condition with such complex causes, the correct treatment of chronic blepharitis is also complex.
First of all, a systematic grooming (cleaning) of the edge of the eyelids is necessary to remove the scales and secretions that maintain the irritation. It is preferable to do this, at least at the beginning of treatment by specialized personnel, in the clinic or practice.
After careful examination under a microscope and identification of the type of blepharitis, the next step is to stimulate the dysfunctional glands in the eyelid structure either with a device called Blephasteam or with devices that can be used at home, called Posiforlid which produce moderate heat by unclogging and emulsifying the contents of the respective glands, helping in this way the body to find its natural means of defence. Oftapro owns all these devices used in the treatment of blepharitis.
However, it is not enough, patients will require in many situations general treatment for several months and short-term treatment with ointments and / or drops. The patient should be monitored for a long time.
In the treatment of blepharitis with Demodex, grooming will remove at the microscope the parasites gathered at the base of the eyelashes (often misdiagnosed as “peels” or scales) and the treatment will necessarily contain preparations based on tea tree extract.
In most cases, patients with chronic blepharitis have associated a dry eye syndrome that can be diagnosed at the time of initial assessment and artificial tears are part of the arsenal of mandatory treatment.