Rosacea and eyes

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Colleen Congdon <congdon9@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi!  I’m 27 and I was just diagnosed with rosacea yesterday, although I now realize that I’ve had symptomologies for years.  I’m particularly concerned about how Rosacea has already and will affect my eyes.  I am extremely near-sighted and wear contacts, and Rosacea has already caused many spider veins in my eyes, making it difficult to wear contacts.  Does anyone have any suggestions as to eye treatments that prevent deterioration of the eyes?

Colleen, I suggest you find a cornea specialist in your area. Try checking with your insurance provider list, but you might have to, as I did, cross-reference to yellow pages ads looking for a cornea specialist among the “Physicians - Ophthalmology.” Or call your existing ophtho or opto for a reference. In my experience optometrists don’t really know how to look for this sort of thing; they are just looking to correct your vision.

The four things that have been working in combination for me (prescribed by my doc, a cornea specialist) are:

• warm compresses on the eyes in the evening (5-10 minutes). I just take a clean white washcloth, run hot tap water over it, wring it out and place it against my closed lids. When it cools I repeat the process. Sometimes I warm a gel-filled eye mask which I bought in the drugstore near the loofah sponges and body lotions, and place it over the cloth to keep it warm longer.  This stimulates the blocked ducts that keep your eyes from getting the ‘oily’ moisture (rather than just salt-water tears) they need.
• lid scrubs in the evening. I went out and bought a pack of OcuSoft near the eyedrops in the store; turns out I could have used a cotton ball and some diluted baby shampoo. This helps remove any residue and bacteria.
• ointment just before bed. I have a prescription antibiotic one for the short term, but you can buy a ‘bland’ ointment in the drugstore. I’ve seen LacriLube near the eyedrops.  (I also sleep with a sleep mask, as I’m now more concerned about dust and things getting around my eyes with the ointment. Among other things I sleep better.)
• Articial tears type eye drops (not the Visine kind) several times a day to keep the moisture in my eyes. I have started using GenTeal and occasionally the thicker CelluVisc. The latter is great, but expensive and only in single-use vials because there’s no preservatives.

Also, based on a comment here, I’ve started taking a capsule with flaxseed oil and borage oil in it (esential Omega-3, -6, -9 fatty acids, good for you anyway). Between all that I’ve seen a drastic improvement in my eye appearance and comfort — though my lids still look relatively irritated. It looks like I have a subtle brown eyeshadow on the top lid. Fortunately this is not the case on the bottom lid.

Finally, try getting more rest. Do you sleep enough and sleep well? I’m making a big effort.  And if you use your computer a lot, try taking breaks, consciously blinking more often, and using a glare reducing screen.

I just came to this list two weeks ago and I sound like I think I’m an expert.  But I know what’s working for me!

Best of luck to you. And be careful with contacts. I’ve decided they’re not for me. I hate glasses but would rather never feel the pain of corneal abrasion again.

Peace,
Ann

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