Blepharitis, MGD and DryEye

I have saw a total of 3 different ophthalmologists in the past 10 years, and not one has been able to help me.

I have been told by two different doctors I have blepharitis. And I have MGD. One Doctor wanted me to do the LipiFlow treatment for $1000 Cdn (I'm Canadian). And I didn't go through with it. I opted to just put hot facecloths on my eyelids when having a hot bath. I've read putting on a hot compress at a temperature of 40 degrees celsius (sorry for U.S. folk using Fahrenheit) for 6 minutes will melt the fats clogging the glands, just as the Lipiflow does.

Seems that every article about the varieties of blepharitis always say "the cause is not clear". "Unknown". "We don't know" "It's a medical mystery". "Duh".

And its very frustrating. It makes you wonder whether research to find a cure is being ignored, because there's too much money to be made treating the symptoms with products -- drops, gels, sprays, wipes, plugs, goggles, treatments, etc -- to make an industry rich.

If it were cured with something simple, all that money would dry up?

On top of all this, I have come across articles that say Blepharitis is NOT contagious, but some kinds might?

I believe mine IS contagious. I have saw coworkers, friends and family all of a sudden get burning eyes, red eyes, eye infections, tearing, sties, etc when I work closely with them. This has gone on for years.

I had absolutely no eye issues up until my late 20's. I had the clearest slera (the whites of the eyes). And when I moved in with a roommate who didn't have the best hygeine, that's when I got my first eye-infection, and I've had all these issues ever since.

I mention the contagious aspect to doctors, and they always have the same response: "Well, if you go around talking about your dry eyes all the time, then people think they have something as well".

??!!

I don't talk about my eye situation AT ALL with anyone! Ever! It's embarrassing. And why would I go around the office telling people "Oh hey! Did I give you an eye infection? Maybe you got that burning tearing eye problem from me!?".

Nope. It's my private shame that I keep to myself.

I believe whatever is the cause is bacteria.

And there are hundreds of thousands different kinds of bacteria?

The fact that I know for myself it's contagious should mean there should be something being done about it.

Blepharitis, Dry Eye, MGD won't kill you. But the amount of money you're going to spend on products for the rest of your life, and the discomfort you're put through everyday is criminal for nothing to be done about it.

And this whole industry seems to be focused on offering ways to "manage" it. Not cure it.

I manage my eye situation daily. I wake up with the gunky heavy feeling in my eyelids. So I do a hot bath. For my facewash, I use baby shampoo with a couple drops of tea tree oil i mix in a small bottle.

I have tried a 2 month course of Minocycline. It's a weak antibiotic. For the first time in 20 years, my eyelids weren't heavy feeling and I didn't have that gunky feeling. Once I went off the Minocycline, not even 2 or 3 days later, it went back to feeling gunky.

Last year, I went camping with family twice. And each time, it was alot of anxiety, because I wasn't around places to get hot water for frequent splashes of my face. That's how awful this eye condition is -- I can't even enjoy myself in the outdoors without being around a steady supply of hot water to splash my face to manage.

How would a person from the past -- like a a hundred years ago -- deal with this eye/skin condition when hot water was more of a luxury? Was blepharitis even around a hundred years ago? is it something new infecting us?

I have also tried the Ocusoft HypoChlor 0.02% spray (It's an anti-microbial spray).

I think the first time I tried it, it seemed to help. After that, nothing.

My ophthalmologist gave me a prescription for Restasis, but I haven't filled it. Because, I've read for some people it doesn't do anything for them. I'm almost tired of trying things. And all these things seem to only manage the symptoms. They are not a cure.

I think the cure is hiding with antibiotics -- probably a very specific one that's probably not prescribed often or for something doctors only consider life-threatening. That's just my theory.

I want to comment on this article link if anyone cares:

https://www.dovepress.com/debsmdasha-unification-theory-for-dry-eye-and-blepharitis-peer-reviewed-article-OPTH

Their theory says dry eye and blepharitis are the same thing. Dry Eye being the late stage of belpharitis.

Paraphrased, they basically say this is how people get blepharitis:

Bacteria colonize the lid margin with a structure known as a biofilm.

The biofilm initiates gene activation, which causes inflammation. And it is present for the rest of the patients life."

A couple problems with their theory.

What bacteria exactly starts all of this? Our human bodies are covered with bacteria. millions of bacteria. In our stomach. In our mouth. In our digestive system. So it obviously is a certain TYPE of bacteria causing this problem. They don't offer a theory on what type of bacteria. Again, "experts" with no answers.

Another thing is, I took minocyline. It basically acts like an anti-inflammatory. And it did help while I was on it. So... if this supposed inflammation is supposed to be "for the rest of the patients life", why then did I get temporary relief from an anti-biotic? Why do so many treatments involve anti-microbials or natural antibiotics, like teatree oil?

Lastly, you'll also notice, the study was sponsored and paid for by "BlephEx" -- a private corporation. And you guessed it, they sell wipes they want you to purchase and make them rich.

Again, this industry doesn't seem to want to cure anything, just treat the symptoms for $$$.

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If anyone knows any ophthalmologists or microbiologist researchers or students looking for research on blepharitis (or MGD, dry eye, etc), I would like to talk to them about the contagious aspects and what I've noticed. I'll literally donate myself for research :P

Just put me into a controlled environment, like an office setting, with someone else who has no eye issues whatsoever, and it might be less than a week or two before they start complaining about the burning eyes, then maybe waking up with their eyelashes stuck together. Then maybe an eye infection. Maybe red irritated eyes. It's all happened before. I've documented more than 30 times in the past (that I know of) this has happened to people around me.

The only other option would be, because SO MANY people suffer from bleph, maybe we should start a fund? Like those organizations that fund research for AIDS, cancer, etc?

I don't know how to go about this though. It can't be left to corporations to find a cure for us. They aren't gonna help us.

B.

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