Comments on: ocular rosacea questions answered (Part I)

By: Tina

Tina — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 22:09:38 +0000

I have rosacea on my face and have been diagnosised with ocular rosacea also. I have extremely dry eyes and use muro ointment every night, if not they burn and hurt when I open my eyes in the mornings. I also am prone to cornea ulcers. My eye doctor treats these with bromday, steroid drops and azacite. He does not know if the cornea ulcers are caused by the ocular rosacea or not. I usually get 3-4 episodes a year. Do you know anything about people with ocular rosacea getting cornea ulcers?

By: David Pascoe

David Pascoe — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 02:40:10 +0000

Hi Christine,

Sorry to hear that you are having such a hard time.

Dr. Jones was asked about nutrition and ocular rosacea above:

Q: What role do you feel nutrition plays in treating ocular rosacea, and are there any foods to stay away from that could trigger the eyes?

A: There are studies with just dry eye, where flaxseed oil and omega 3s are quite effective. Foodwise, everyone is individual. There have been some surveys, and everyone was different. Some said spicy foods, others said hot drinks, alcohol, cold drinks. People have to find their individual triggers, I think.

Doxycycline at a low dose has been shown to be a safe and effective long term treatment for facial and ocular rosacea. It might be worth exploring this with your doctor as well.

davidp.

By: Christine Curtis

Christine Curtis — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:55:43 +0000

I have been recently diagnosed with ocular rosacea and have been prescribed five different types of eye drops – most of them some type of antibiotic. Nothing has helped. Right now I am using Systane Balance which seems to alleviate some of the burning during the day. Nights are the worst. My eyes run and crust shut. By morning they are on fire and it is very painful to open them. I am apprehensive about starting drug therapy (tetracycline) because these antibiotics kill good bacteria as well as bad. I can live with this condition, but I am concerned about causing irrepairable damage to my eyes and compromising my vision, which is bad enough to begin with! I have read various articles that say, left untreated, this condition can worsen and even cause blindness! I have a friend that suffers from rosacea of the skin and she has found some relief with flaxseed oil. Has anyone tried this for ocular rosacea? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

By: MT Kaercher

MT Kaercher — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 17:44:59 +0000

Gosh…what a horrible condition…mine was triggered by menopause! This is a very helpful site.

By: David Pascoe

David Pascoe — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 04:48:41 +0000

Hi Joanne,

These 2 links to interviews might be helpful ;

http://rosacea-research.org/wiki/index.php/Ocular_Rosacea:_Dr._Eric_Jones,_MD

and

http://rosacea-research.org/wiki/index.php?title=Ocular_Rosacea:_Dr._Mark_J._Mannis%2C_MD
and also the ocular rosacea community forum.

There are more options for sure. Do you a supportive opthamologist as a starting point ?

davidp.

By: joanne kreuz

joanne kreuz — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:30:17 +0000

I have occular rosea and was treated with doxycyclene for a number of years. Eventually that drug affected my esophygus and I was immediately taken off of that drug. I now use compresses every night and also use an eye solution with a cotton swab to clean my upper and lower eyelids. Sometimes this condition flares up no matter what I do to where its a constant burning in my eyes and causes me so much discomfort. Any suggestions?