Aa
Sore, puffy, dry, red eyelids... Help needed, as my pharmascist is the definition of useless!
Apologiies in advance for this crazily long post- perhaps if I had forced my pharmacist to read all of this, he might have actually been helpful.....
For the last few weeks I have been suffering from incredibly sensitive eyes/eyelids which are red, dry and sore, similar to sunburn. I initially thought it was because of some cheap make-up remover wipes that I used to take off my mascara. Although I had been using them for a while, they soon started to sting and burn the area around my eyes whenever I used them. The use of any eye make-up other than mascara would result in a stinging sensation, which varied in terms of severity. Moisturiser and even baby-lotion would burn my skin. Since then however, I have been using some Garnier make-up wipes, made for sensitive skin and the problem seemed to get a bit better, although eyeshadow was still strictly off-limits. But then, last Sunday, my eyes had gone back to their previous state, of being very red and sore. I hadn't worn any make-up or used any products on or near my eyes at all on Sunday, so I'm confused as to what caused it to return.
On Monday and Tuesday, several people commented on the state of my eyes, especially the right one, which seemed to be in a worse condition. My eyelids were dry and painful to touch, especially in the corner and it was continuously weeping, until yesterday afternoon when it seemed to heal up to the point where it looked sore, but no longer felt it.
And then today- my awful eyes are worse than ever. While my actual eyes are fine, my eyelids are large, puffy and as per usual- RED. My left one was expectionally bad, where it was almost hard to keep open. Since the day has gone on, they've somewhat improved, although they remain puffy and red.
One more thing- it may or may not be related but yesterday morning I woke up with a dry, red, sore patch of skin around the left corner of my mouth. When covered up with makeup, it's not so bad, but still notciable and sometimes itchy. I put on some E45 cream today, as I thought this would help, but I think it made it worse as it started stinging and burning almost immediatley. I never had this before, only since the problem has returned to my eyelids. Related, perhaps?
What is going on with my evil, crazy eyes?! I look awful, as I'm very pale and the contrast between my pale face with the random red patch near my mouth and my dry, puffy eyelids makes me resemble something out of a horror film... :( Any ideas of what the problem could be or how to fix it? Or has anyone else suffered similar symptoms? All help would be greatly appreciated. :)
Alex.
For the last few weeks I have been suffering from incredibly sensitive eyes/eyelids which are red, dry and sore, similar to sunburn. I initially thought it was because of some cheap make-up remover wipes that I used to take off my mascara. Although I had been using them for a while, they soon started to sting and burn the area around my eyes whenever I used them. The use of any eye make-up other than mascara would result in a stinging sensation, which varied in terms of severity. Moisturiser and even baby-lotion would burn my skin. Since then however, I have been using some Garnier make-up wipes, made for sensitive skin and the problem seemed to get a bit better, although eyeshadow was still strictly off-limits. But then, last Sunday, my eyes had gone back to their previous state, of being very red and sore. I hadn't worn any make-up or used any products on or near my eyes at all on Sunday, so I'm confused as to what caused it to return.
On Monday and Tuesday, several people commented on the state of my eyes, especially the right one, which seemed to be in a worse condition. My eyelids were dry and painful to touch, especially in the corner and it was continuously weeping, until yesterday afternoon when it seemed to heal up to the point where it looked sore, but no longer felt it.
And then today- my awful eyes are worse than ever. While my actual eyes are fine, my eyelids are large, puffy and as per usual- RED. My left one was expectionally bad, where it was almost hard to keep open. Since the day has gone on, they've somewhat improved, although they remain puffy and red.
One more thing- it may or may not be related but yesterday morning I woke up with a dry, red, sore patch of skin around the left corner of my mouth. When covered up with makeup, it's not so bad, but still notciable and sometimes itchy. I put on some E45 cream today, as I thought this would help, but I think it made it worse as it started stinging and burning almost immediatley. I never had this before, only since the problem has returned to my eyelids. Related, perhaps?
What is going on with my evil, crazy eyes?! I look awful, as I'm very pale and the contrast between my pale face with the random red patch near my mouth and my dry, puffy eyelids makes me resemble something out of a horror film... :( Any ideas of what the problem could be or how to fix it? Or has anyone else suffered similar symptoms? All help would be greatly appreciated. :)
Alex.
There is hope!!! My symptoms had gotten so severe on my left eye that I was near desperate and ready to try an Allergy Dr. But, I decided to make one more attempt and Google my symptoms when I found this forum! I scrolled and read then scrolled and read many many more of your comments . . . I decided to try one suggestion, using VASELINE CREAM (not the petroleum jelly) along with HYDROCORTISONE 1% CREAM. Mixing these two items 50 / 50 (and it only takes a tiny squeeze of each) - blend together with finger. Apply to eyelid. After my first use, there was improvement!!! There was a brief stinging when first put on my eyelid but, by the third application, no more sting. Soothing relief!!!!! After three days, using both morning / night, my eyelid looks great! No more swelling, droopy eyelid! No more red, raw, blistered, flaky eyelid! One other thing I learned, in reading, was that memory foam pillows can also be a contributing factor with the common symptoms which we all seem to share. One post stated that a memory foam pillow can hold apprx. 61% more allergens/bacteria than a regular bed pillow. I am also tossing my memory foam pillow! I sincerely hope you find this helpful and wish others the wonderful relief and healing I have found!
the first time in my life,my eyelids and the underneath are dry like this, but its my entire face, an i'm 50 yrs old. yesterday my skin was as normal as should be, I do have hydrocortisone crème, BUT, no way would I ever use it,(not even a trace of it)the biggest sde effect from that crème is, it thins your skin, in which case, will give you pre-mature aging"look"wrinkles, just thought i'd should let you know, in case you were not aware of it!,anyone have any suggestions for my dry,cracked,flakey bleeding face,thanks
SOLUTION!!! WATER WATER WATER!!!!!!
I've had this a few times and I believed it to be from moisturizer that is too harsh. However this time it moved into my cheek which indicates a fungus ... Why did it spread ? Whatever it is...it's painful and the ONLY way to get rid of it is ... LEAVE IT ALONE !!!
No creams, vinegar, make up.... NOTHING!!!
Rinse face with water only! Do not FEED it! After a few days it will dry out .
Everything I tried on it made it worse even aquaphor .... Make up... You're skin may feel dry but just stick with it.
So do what I say and it will go within a few days. If it looks wrinkly this just part of the process ... Be patient !
I've had this a few times and I believed it to be from moisturizer that is too harsh. However this time it moved into my cheek which indicates a fungus ... Why did it spread ? Whatever it is...it's painful and the ONLY way to get rid of it is ... LEAVE IT ALONE !!!
No creams, vinegar, make up.... NOTHING!!!
Rinse face with water only! Do not FEED it! After a few days it will dry out .
Everything I tried on it made it worse even aquaphor .... Make up... You're skin may feel dry but just stick with it.
So do what I say and it will go within a few days. If it looks wrinkly this just part of the process ... Be patient !
I believe I may have figured out what is going on here, and why my red/puffy/itchy eyes would never fully heal. I BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A FUNGAL INFECTION OF THE SINUSES, WHICH EVENTUALLY MOVES IN ON THE EYE AREA. This is why if you are just treating your eyes, you might not be able to get rid of it.
The way to get rid of the fungal infection of the sinuses is to do nasal irrigation. You can Google "nasal irrigation" to find out how to do this. Basically, you get a neti-pot (e.g., online, or at natural food stores), and mix 1/2 tsp salt thoroughly in 1 cup of purified water (e.g., used distilled water, or boil and cool-til-room-temp tap water). Then tilt your head and pour the salt water in one nostril. The water will travel through your sinuses and come out the other nostril. Look for a video online to show you how to do this.
You should also use the neti-pot with the same salt water solution to flush your eyes. This salt water should travel through the tear ducts and into the sinuses, thus flushing out the tear ducts. Flush both eyes and nose twice a day, with one cup of water for each nostril and one cup for each eye.
If you are brave, you can add a few drops of apple cider vinegar to your salt water for both the nasal irrigation and eye flushing. This will sting, but I think it cleans things up more quickly than salt water alone.
If you have had this for a long time, and have gone to many doctors, and you believe it is a fungal infection, you may have a "fungal ball" of the sinuses. In this case an ENT (ear nose throat) doctor can image your sinuses and tell you for sure. If you do have one, they can basically vacuum it out. Some pretty cool videos of this online.
Fungus seems to live pretty well in the sinuses. It's nice and dark in there, and especially if you live in an environment where there is mold, you may be breathing this in and helping the fungus in your sinuses to grow.
Just one more note. A number of people here have mentioned that the corners of their mouth are red. In this case the fungus that causes this probably lives on the tongue. To get rid of this, scrape your tongue twice a day. Get a tongue scraper (with the toothbrushes at drug stores). Put salt all over the tongue, as far back as you can without gagging. Let sit for 5 minutes or so. Take the brush part of the tongue scraper and brush the tongue. Take the scraper part of the scraper and scrape the yucky stuff off the tongue. Do this until the tongue looks very pink- i.e., if there is a white or yellow film, you want to get all of this off.
Once you get the fungus out of your mouth/sinuses/tear ducts by the above methods, it is much easier to treat the skin and I think you will find it responding rather quickly to the antifungal creams, etc. that may have partially worked for you before.
The way to get rid of the fungal infection of the sinuses is to do nasal irrigation. You can Google "nasal irrigation" to find out how to do this. Basically, you get a neti-pot (e.g., online, or at natural food stores), and mix 1/2 tsp salt thoroughly in 1 cup of purified water (e.g., used distilled water, or boil and cool-til-room-temp tap water). Then tilt your head and pour the salt water in one nostril. The water will travel through your sinuses and come out the other nostril. Look for a video online to show you how to do this.
You should also use the neti-pot with the same salt water solution to flush your eyes. This salt water should travel through the tear ducts and into the sinuses, thus flushing out the tear ducts. Flush both eyes and nose twice a day, with one cup of water for each nostril and one cup for each eye.
If you are brave, you can add a few drops of apple cider vinegar to your salt water for both the nasal irrigation and eye flushing. This will sting, but I think it cleans things up more quickly than salt water alone.
If you have had this for a long time, and have gone to many doctors, and you believe it is a fungal infection, you may have a "fungal ball" of the sinuses. In this case an ENT (ear nose throat) doctor can image your sinuses and tell you for sure. If you do have one, they can basically vacuum it out. Some pretty cool videos of this online.
Fungus seems to live pretty well in the sinuses. It's nice and dark in there, and especially if you live in an environment where there is mold, you may be breathing this in and helping the fungus in your sinuses to grow.
Just one more note. A number of people here have mentioned that the corners of their mouth are red. In this case the fungus that causes this probably lives on the tongue. To get rid of this, scrape your tongue twice a day. Get a tongue scraper (with the toothbrushes at drug stores). Put salt all over the tongue, as far back as you can without gagging. Let sit for 5 minutes or so. Take the brush part of the tongue scraper and brush the tongue. Take the scraper part of the scraper and scrape the yucky stuff off the tongue. Do this until the tongue looks very pink- i.e., if there is a white or yellow film, you want to get all of this off.
Once you get the fungus out of your mouth/sinuses/tear ducts by the above methods, it is much easier to treat the skin and I think you will find it responding rather quickly to the antifungal creams, etc. that may have partially worked for you before.
I know this thread is old, but I've gotten a lot of help here and wanted to post what I've learned. First of all, for red, inflamed eyelids, I used Sudocrem-- you can get it on Amazon. Like a diaper creme, but it's amazing for pretty much any skin problems. I put it on at home and let it sit on the skin for hours- as long as possible. I also had puffy tear ducts, and for that I used salt water rinses. I used my neti pot (STERILIZE FIRST!), made up a solution of 1 tsp sea salt in 1 c of water, and flushed my eyes with this in the shower.
I believe that my infection is fungal-- is it red, itchy, and burning? It might be a fungus. Fungus loves a warm, wet, dark (dark=no sunlight, artificial light doesn't count) environment. NEVER GIVE IT ALL THREE. I believe this condition occurs when the epidermis of sensitive skin is compromised due to an allergy or irritant. Then a fungus can make itself at home in these breaks in the skin. Once it's there, it's hard to get it to move out. Here are my Ten Commandments for dealing with a fungus:
1) Thou shalt use paper towels to dry thy hands and thy face. Fungus loves the wet, warm environment of a towel in a bathroom. Also, wash bath towels after every use in hot water, dry until hot and bone dry.
2) Thou shalt not hide thy face from the sun. Sunlight kills fungus. Thou shalt bathe thy living space in natural light, especially the bedroom and bathroom.
3) Thou shalt avoideth heavy creams and keep thy eyes dry at night. Fungus loves a moist environment. No Vaseline or Aquaphor ever for fungus! It will spread like wildfire before your eyes.
4) Thou shalt minimize the intake of alcohol, sugar, and carbohydrates. These feed the fungus. Eat lots of vegetables and protein. If you have been suffering from this rash for years, please Google, "candidiasis". There is hope and you can recover.
5) Thou shalt not use harsh chemicals around thy eyes. Getting rid of this condition is a delicate balancing act of building up the epidermis of the skin and killing the fungus. Be very careful that what you use to kill the fungus does not unnecessarily degrade the epidermis.
6) Thou shalt not use eye makeup until the infection recedes. This can further irritate the delicate skin around the eye. Be especially careful about anything with sunscreen, or anything with a sparkle to it, even a subtle one.
7) Thou shalt throw away old eye makeup. This can have fungus in it and you can re-infect your eyes. When you start to use makeup again, get makeup for sensitive skin and use disposable applicators (i.e., qtips, disposable mascara wands, etc.) to apply.
8) Thou shalt not use a warm washcloth on eyes. Fungus loves this warm, wet environment and will multiply like mad. I was doing this based on advice I had read online...it might work for a bacterial infection, but it made my fungal rash firey and red.
9) Thou shalt not exercise or otherwise sweat indoors or in the dark. Fungus loves this wet, warm environment.
10) Thou shalt keep a diary of treatments to help recognize patterns, and thou shalt continue those treatments that are successful after the infection clears. Just to make sure it doesn't come back.
A big thanks to all other posters here, much of this advice helped me tremendously and, of course, it was comforting to know that I wasn't the only one out there with puffy red eyes.
I believe that my infection is fungal-- is it red, itchy, and burning? It might be a fungus. Fungus loves a warm, wet, dark (dark=no sunlight, artificial light doesn't count) environment. NEVER GIVE IT ALL THREE. I believe this condition occurs when the epidermis of sensitive skin is compromised due to an allergy or irritant. Then a fungus can make itself at home in these breaks in the skin. Once it's there, it's hard to get it to move out. Here are my Ten Commandments for dealing with a fungus:
1) Thou shalt use paper towels to dry thy hands and thy face. Fungus loves the wet, warm environment of a towel in a bathroom. Also, wash bath towels after every use in hot water, dry until hot and bone dry.
2) Thou shalt not hide thy face from the sun. Sunlight kills fungus. Thou shalt bathe thy living space in natural light, especially the bedroom and bathroom.
3) Thou shalt avoideth heavy creams and keep thy eyes dry at night. Fungus loves a moist environment. No Vaseline or Aquaphor ever for fungus! It will spread like wildfire before your eyes.
4) Thou shalt minimize the intake of alcohol, sugar, and carbohydrates. These feed the fungus. Eat lots of vegetables and protein. If you have been suffering from this rash for years, please Google, "candidiasis". There is hope and you can recover.
5) Thou shalt not use harsh chemicals around thy eyes. Getting rid of this condition is a delicate balancing act of building up the epidermis of the skin and killing the fungus. Be very careful that what you use to kill the fungus does not unnecessarily degrade the epidermis.
6) Thou shalt not use eye makeup until the infection recedes. This can further irritate the delicate skin around the eye. Be especially careful about anything with sunscreen, or anything with a sparkle to it, even a subtle one.
7) Thou shalt throw away old eye makeup. This can have fungus in it and you can re-infect your eyes. When you start to use makeup again, get makeup for sensitive skin and use disposable applicators (i.e., qtips, disposable mascara wands, etc.) to apply.
8) Thou shalt not use a warm washcloth on eyes. Fungus loves this warm, wet environment and will multiply like mad. I was doing this based on advice I had read online...it might work for a bacterial infection, but it made my fungal rash firey and red.
9) Thou shalt not exercise or otherwise sweat indoors or in the dark. Fungus loves this wet, warm environment.
10) Thou shalt keep a diary of treatments to help recognize patterns, and thou shalt continue those treatments that are successful after the infection clears. Just to make sure it doesn't come back.
A big thanks to all other posters here, much of this advice helped me tremendously and, of course, it was comforting to know that I wasn't the only one out there with puffy red eyes.
5 Days later and my eyelid is completely back to normal. I ordered the Zymox cream and will continue to use it for at least a couple of more days. The wrinkle are all gone and I going to try and wear some make up today. Just one other thing, I used a product called CapriClear(Coconut Oil) after a couple of days, it help to moisturize my eyes and get rid of the scaling. I think Aquaphor would do the same. Very happy with the results.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Eye Care Community
Top General Health Answerers
Kansas City, MO
Grand Prairie, TX
San Diego, CA
Discharge often isn't normal, and could mean an infection or an STD.
In this unique and fascinating report from Missouri Medicine, world-renowned expert Dr. Raymond Moody examines what really happens when we almost die.
Think a loved one may be experiencing hearing loss? Here are five warning signs to watch for.
When it comes to your health, timing is everything
We’ve got a crash course on metabolism basics.
Learn what you can do to avoid ski injury and other common winter sports injury.
