Blepharitis or eye eczema is an itchy inflammtion of the eyelids and the skin around the eyes which also causes very dry eyes in the skin around the eyes and can become extremely uncomfortable. It can be triggered by underlying skin conditions such as eczema or seborrheic dermatitis as well as alergic reactions to external irritants such as comsetics, skin care products, suncreams along with beauty procedures such as brow shaping or tinting, microblading and injectables.
However, another common blepharitis trigger is menopause and in many cases menopausal blepharitis or menopaual eye eczema can be one of the first signs that menopause has begun. The sudden drop in female sex hormones, in particular oesrogen, can cause the skin around the eyes to become chronically reactive and dry along with swollen and red eyelids. Blepharitis is often not mentioned in the list of menopausal symptoms and so is often overlooked or mistaken as an allergic reaction.
There's very few eye eczema treatments options or blepharirtis treatments options, as topical steroids are not recommended for use around the eye area, paricularly for more mature skin.
Mum of three Katherine, 55, from Suffolk suddenly developed sore, itchy eyelids and inflammed eyelids when she began to enter menopause and like many women, was told by her doctor it was likely an allergy of some kind.
Katherine says;
“The most prominiant and early symptom of my menopause starting, which ony now I know was linked to my menopause but back then I had no idea, was excrutiating itching and swelling on my eyelids. The irritation became increasingly worse and it got to the point where by I would wake up most mornings with red swollen eyes glued together and it felt like my eyelids were being stabbed with small sharp needles.
It was agonising and I felt quite scared because I had to pull at my lashes to even get my eyes open in the mornings, everything was a blur and I feared that I was losing my eyesight.
I began to develop cracked eyelids which would weep and then crust over. They looked bruised as if I had been in several rounds of a boxing ring, with bruised dark under eye shadows. When I wiped the crust away it left a shiny surface which felt like burns in the creases.
It wasn’t until I read a health article about a woman with symptoms just like mine whose doctor had told her that the symptoms were associated with her menopause that it ever occurred to me that two things could be linked. None of the doctors or consultants I saw about my eyes, which were multiple, had ever suggested it was due to menopause and I never saw it listed on any of the menopausal symptoms to look out for.
But at the beginning of my long and painful journey towards finding out had caused my eyes to get in such a state, I used whatever I could find in the house to calm the swelling, paracetamol, anti-wrinkle night creams and moisturisers. Even olive oil and coconut oil. Nothing worked and most thing smade the stinging and cracking worse.
My local pharmacist suggested anti-histamine tablets as she thougtht I'd had an allergeic reactoin to something i had put on my eyes, but they did absoluteky nothing for my eyes. Everything I tried seemed to further trigger the pain and itching.
My eyes started to affect my overall health. The swelling and pain triggered migraines and light sensitivity. The skin started to sag heavily above my eyes and underneath.
I bought an air purifier for my bedroom and a humidifier to keep the air moist. I found that everything seemed to trigger the swelling and even the dust on the floor of the gym which I attended. People kept asking me if I was ok as they could see my acute discomfort.
I couldn’t bear the stares or the stinging when sweat ran into my eyes so I stopped going to the gym. I felt depressed as I had gone quickly from being an active women who I’d say looked good for her age to looking and feeling years older than I was. My confidence plummeted but I couldn’t even cry to relieve my misery as the tears burnt my eyes.
My GP told me she wasn’t sure what I had and that there was little she could prescribe as even low-dose steroids for eczema are not really recommended for use around the eyes.
She referred me to an eye consultant at the hospital. After an eye examination I was told to return in six months to be reviewed. In the meantime, the consultant sent me to have an allergy test and see a dermatologist. I was hoping the allergy test would give me the answers but to my surprise, nothing conclusive was determined.
A dermatologist then reviewed my condition without telling me what it was and prescribed a topical steroid treatment gel, which I have since found out realy isn't a suitable solution for skin around the eyes. Seconds after use, the skin around my eyes became so bright red and swollen, I couldn’t open them and the burning pain was horrific. It felt like both my eyes were being gouged out with red hot pokers. As much as I tried to wash the gel off, the pain just got worse. I called the dermatologist in a panic but she was adamant that I should continue to use the gel and said my skin would become used to it. However, I simply couldn’t continue as it was just too painful.
I returned to the eye specialist and she suggested that maybe what I had was blepharitis, though it was more severe than most cases she had seen.
I told her that my mental health was suffering greatly because of how awful my eyes looked and she said she could refer me for cosmetic surgery to remove the excess skin, once the Blepharitis had calmed down. I was shocked as surgery seemed quite extreme and it made me feel very concerned about just had uch damage my eyes had sustained. However while I waiting for anothe appointment about the surgery option, Covid hit and my medical case was closed as it was a non-emergency situation.
Over lockdown I was left to cope with the agony on my own. I decided to do some much deeper research into blepharitis causes and treatments and that is when I thankfully discovered Hydrosil Dry Eye Gel after reading in a health article online about a lady with almost identical symptoms to me who said she had used the eye gel with incredible results. I couldn’t believe that there was actually a product out there that targeted the very problem I had that did not contain steroids and no one had told me about it.
I immediately researched it and found lots of reviews from women with similar symptoms to me saying the eye gel, which contained a natural plant streoid that mimicked the action of chemical steorids but was much gentler on the skin and therefore suitable for use around the eyes, had drastically improved their symptoms. Many of them also menotioned that they had developed their symtoms at the onset of menopause and a few of the articles had a dermatologist explaining why and how menopause can trigger blepharitis due to the drop in ostreogen. Suddenly the penny dropped and I felt such a sense of relief that not only had I potentialy found a solution for the problem but that I now knew what had triggered my blepharitis and that there was light at the end of the tunnel.
Needless to say I ordered some of the eye gel immediately. I was scared to apply the it as by this stage everything stung my eyes, even water. As instructed I carried out a patch test on a small area of my affacted skin and there was not even a tingle so I applied the gel to my eyes. The relief was almost instant and I almost cried with relief but held myself back as even tears stung my eyes.
Not only did the manufacturers make the eye gel but they also made an Dry Eye Concealer to use over the eye gel which was designed to be used on eyes like mine and had many of the same ingredients as the eye gel but also with a prebiotic in it to help repair the skin barrier which, in my case, must have been obliterated. Every eye concealer I’d tried before burned but I had zero reaction to this one and it immediately brightened up my dark circles and covered a lot of the redness on my eye lids and around my eyes. They also made a brow serum Hydrobrow, which was a special brow treatment for repairing flaky itchy brows, which I had also developed.
After using the Hydrosil eye products for just a few weeks my daughter spotted the improvement immediately, she said 'Mum you look almost like your old self again.' My eyes had calmed right down and most of the redness had gone. The dry cracks gradually healed up and once I put the concealer over the top you could barely notice my eye condition at all.
I now use the eye gel and brow serum religiously both at night and under make up during the day along with the concealer. My eyes have stayed calm ever since and are back to normal. It’s given me back my quality of life and my self-confidence. I can sleep better, I’ve returned to the gym and I no longer feel worried about facing people as my eyes feel normal again. Most imporantly I’m not in constant pain.
While I’m beyond delighted that I’ve found something to control my blepharitis I feel disspoited and rather shocked that it was left to my own initiaive to find out what was causing my blepharitis and to find a suitabletreatent for it. I do feel that at least one of the doctors I saw should had made the link with my menopause and maybe looked into HRT of some sort rather than topical steroids that burned my eyes, I may have been spared so much physical and mental suffering. It’s definitely something that more doctors really need to be aware of as there must be a lot of women out there going through the same agony as I did.”
