One week using "Wet Ones" with Benzethonium Chloride

Posted , 128 users are following.

I have been using Wet Ones as recommended by Lynda79 (Clean eyes 4 times daily using 1/4 wet one) for one week

I can report the following.

Initial State:- Eye irritation/soreness/dryness including corneal ulcers, etc which I have had for over 2 months continually. Requiring washing approx 3-4 times daily with warm water, baby shampoo, eye drops etc..

When starting with the Wet Ones, I initially felt slight stinging around the rim of the eye, but this stopped after 24 hrs use.

After 3 days:- A lot of relief, maybe rinse eyes with just warm water if they felt dry.

After 7 days:- I have forgotten that I have blephoritus. Have to remind myself to clean eyes with Wet Ones.

I will continue to use the wet ones, now cutting down to 3x daily as recommended by Lynda79, and will update again next week. Hope this helps somebody, and many thanks to Lynda79 for sharing this.

Honjon

22 likes, 619 replies

619 Replies

Prev Next
  • Posted

    Dear acet,

    They are not the same. The Dr. mentioned the one you used (ingredient) and I told him it was Benzethonium Chloride, that is what was in the facial scrub too.

    You can google both of the ingredients.

    It may be the reason it has not been able to contain Blepharitis is because the other agents they have used have not had the killing power of Benzethonium Chloride. That's my guess.

    There has been one person who had a bad reaction to the wipes. She has problems being allergic to many things. There is lanolin in the wipes too. My Mom was allergic to that.

    I posted what helped the 2 of us to kill it. i always tell people that there is a difference in the wipes if they are ordering them on line to make sure it has Benzethonium Chloride in them.

    Hope this helps you and you get relief soon.

    Lynda79

  • Posted

    Hi Lynda thanks for you reply,

    Do you know any other products that might contain Benzethonium Chloride in them? Wet ones in the UK don't have that ingredient and can't seem to find anything else on the internet. I'm getting desperate now because nothing is seeming to work.

    thanks

  • Posted

    Dear acet,

    Someone said they ordered it from e-bay.

    I found it on drug store sites. I looked for someone who was in Australia on a drugstore site.

    If you know someone in the US perhaps they could mail you some too.

    Could you check with the chemist too? Someone said a chemist would order him something with it in it.

    Sorry I don't have an easy answer to this one.

    Hope you find it soon.

    Lynda79

    • Posted

      Hi Lynda,

      I order mine online and get a case at a time. (Afraid they may change the ingredients). I posted where I ordered them and the post was deleted, so I am not mentioning it again.  I actually emailed the company that makes Wet Ones and told them our story.  They thanked me and send some really good coupons for the Wet Ones.

      Thank you for taking time to tell all of us your story.

      Sandra

    • Posted

      Dear Sandra,

      Thanks for telling others too. I asked a teenager how to get the word out.

      The rest is history. Thanks for nice comments.

      Lynda79

  • Posted

    hi acet

    hi lynda

    i ve some wet ones being posted over from my sister but i have also ordered some from ebay which is only costing under 20 pounds from the us . . also have asked my chemist to source something for me and an avon rep for the face wash . i stay in ayrshire ,if you have any problems i will post some to you as i have ordered 6 tubs of wet ones ..

  • Posted

    Hi Lynda

    My daughter has this condition 3 months ago and it has reoccurred I have looked at you using wet one wipes I have purchased but it says not to use around the eyes and sore skin can you advise pls I look at her and get sooo upset

    Raf

    • Posted

      Hi raffybow,

      I have learned so much more after researching the ingredients in eye meds. You were worried about putting these wipes .03%Benzethonium Chloride in them. I found out that in most eye meds like steroids and quite a few eye drops for lubrication they use BAK (Benzalkonium Chloride (in handwipes that Honjon used to kill bleph).

      It is .01% as a preservative. The info I read said it is dangerous after long periods of use (years) as can cause damage to the eye. This is put into the eye.

      The wipes only go on the outside (lash area).

      If not allergic to shampoos, handwipes etc it would be better to kill it in a few months then use years of these medsf in the eye.

      Good news there were 3 eye drops for dlubrication that had no preservatives in it.

      They are: Refresh Celluvisc, Refresh Endura and Refresh Plus. Bad news us they are more expensive as I think a one use application as no preservatives in it..son-in-law can clean it up.  Be careful where you go.

      Hope this helps you.

      Thinking of you,

      Lynda79

  • Posted

    Dear raffybow,

    I was told there was a Patent for a medicine with benzethonium Chloride. I looked it up. It had a methyl benzethonium chloride in it. It was put in the eye and caused no damage to the rabits or people.

    I used it for almost 4 months and no damage. You can put eye drops in after rubbing on the lids.

    I suggest that you google the ingredients and read up on everything.

    Try the wipes on the hands too, to make sure that she is not allergic to them.

    That patent is a 1966 patent US 3236730 for Blepharitis.

    I tore each wipe into 8 sections so used only a little sectiion on my fingertip to rub on the eyelash area.

    I hope it helps your daughter as it has a few of us so far.

    Wish you relief soon.

    Lynda79

  • Posted

    Thank You - Thank You Lynda79 for your wet ones suggestion!

    I am a 45 year old female in the US and have had blepharitis for over 20 years. It came on during college and it has never really gone away completely. I have used the baby shampoo/water wash & been prescribed various ointments - Tobradex (steroid ointments - with a petroleum jelly consistency). These helped a small amount but never really got it to go away completely.I gave up gluten about 2 years ago (supposed to help with inflammation) and that did improve my condition. Over time the blepharitis flared up again however.

    After reading this forum - I thought why not try the wet ones suggestion? I truly wasn't that hopeful and even wondered if it would sting or possibly be bad for my eyes.

    I found the Wet Ones (red package) with Benzethonium Chloride, and have been wiping my lash line morning & night with a small amount of the wet one (I tear them in strips). My eyes were not really bothered (no real watering or stinging) by the wet ones.

    The result: My lash line is greatly improved to say the least. The inside of my eyes always looked red along with the ulcerated lash line. That is not the case right now. I do wear make up during the day so I am not using this technique during the middle of the day. With just wiping my lash line morning and night it seems like my eyes are almost in the normal range. I am so happy about the condition of my eyes I can't even tell you. I don't think I would have ever had this result on my own.

    I have seen many many eye doctors over the years and they do not seem to have a handle on "curing or treating this."

    All I know is right now I am experiencing relief and am so grateful. I hope this simple treatment can offer others relief as well. Thanks again Lynda for spreading the news on this option. I can definitely say that I would also recommend it.

    God Bless!

  • Posted

    Dear Jill,

    I appreciate you getting back to me with the good news.

    I was just talking to the friend today who first used the Avon Facial Scrub that was an antibacterial that got us all on the right track and told her how I was finally getting some good news from people and how that would eventually help others to give it a try.

    If someone has allergic problems to fabric softners or detergents, etc. they should be careful and maybe not use this unless they research as one person had a reaction to them. She was allergic to another kind of hand wipe. She has made me do a lot of research.

    One person found a Patent from 1966 that used Benzethonium Chloride in an eye treatment (in the eye) for blepharitis.

    We were not the first. Just the first to realize that it needed to be on the eyelashes not in the eye.

    I do go on but want to share all that I found out. The Patent is 1966 Blepharitis US 3236730. You may want to google it.

    I found too, that I can never go back to suing mascara the same way. I now use one wand for both eyes but never dip into the mascara twice. Dry eyes cannot seem to take any bacteria on them. Just my findings.

    Wish you well soon.

    Lynda79

  • Posted

    I am a 40 year old woman living in the US and also suffering Blepharitis, diagnosed 2 years ago. Doing the warm compresses every day, had flare ups before, cured by a week or two of Tobradex and back to normal.

    BUT the last flare up hasn't been cured in five months. I have used steroid drops, antibiotic ointments, anti-inflammation drops, anti-allergy drops, antibiotic pills, all prescribed by my ophthalmologist and really nothing has taken away the redness completely, it always comes back as soon as the medicine run is over. Only my left eye is affected and my symptoms are red eye, swollen eye lids, slight itchiness, minor discharge and tearing. In desperation I found this site and want to understand what are or were the symptoms that Lynda79, jill03295 and Honjon had and how the wet ones treatment helped and how quickly you felt relief.

    Another question for Lynda79, I read you posted that the doctors can't find the blepharitis anymore, are you saying that your eye oils are back to normal too? According to my doctor what causes blepharitis is the thickness of the eye oils or sebum (at least that is my case), and then abnormal bacteria growth for this reason... Any help will be greatly appreciated... Kindness, MRB

  • Posted

    Dear MRB,

    My Blepharitis didn't seem to be an oil problem. I had it for a little over 6 months. It is bacterial and can move into other areas of the eye. For example, my friend's Blepharitis moved up onto her eyelids (where you wear eyeshadow). People talk about it in the glands too.

    It has to be bacterial as these wipes would not have worked. Please look up that Patent information and google Benzethonium Chloride. You will understand how it works on this and why.

    If you are allergic to shampoo or detergents or any other hand wipe you may not be able to use this.

    I have a friend who uses them only twice a week as has a yellow gunk on her lashes and even get stuck together. It is helping her.

    You mentioined that it is abnormal bacterial growth. My personal viewpoint is why not try and see if it helps. I did this as was so desperate as my eyes were crazy itching and when a friend said it killed her Blepharitis (Avon Facial Scrub not available with Benzethonium chloride any longer) I looked for something that had that in it (on the internet). The WET ONES are not a miracle just what I found that had Benzethoniumn Chloride in it. There may be other things with it in it. I just used what I had on hand and it worked.

    If you are not allergic you will know pretty quick if it is helping you or not. I felt relief each time I used it and after a week and a half I went down to 3 times a day. Other people have different responses. Honjon went down even faster then I did.

    I hope this answers your questions. I was just a desperate person like everyone else.

    Hope you find relief soon.

    Lynda79 I am in the US too.

  • Posted

    Hi Lynda,

    Thanks for posting this helpful information. I tried using the Wet Ones wipes and ended up having the contact dermatitis issue that a couple others had. I did find an Avon scrub that contains Benzethonium Chloride (Clearskin® Pore Penetrating Invigorating Scrub).

    What was your friends' Avon wash called? Is it the same one I found?

    Also what was her routine for using the scrub to effectively kill the blepharitis?

    Thanks!

    • Posted

      Dear Eric,

      Sorry I missed the question you asked. The Avon was a Clear Skin Facial Scrub. My friend used it on her skin area and found that it was killing it so moved to her eyes. It dosesn't go in the eyes.

      I will ask her how she did it for you. She had killed it before I started to work on mine. I imagine it is the same way-contact. It was an antibacterial.

      It is not the same one but if you are desperate to use something, not sure about the pore thing. Does it shrink the skin or something.

      There is an antibiotic that will work on this. Just have to have the one that is specific to this problem.

      Wish you success too.

      Lynda 79

    • Posted

      Dear Eric,

      Stef on this site mentioned that she found Benzethonium Chloride in Neutrogenagrapefruit face wash and in and oil free moisturiser too.

      She said it is helping her and she uses it a couple of times a day and is now able to use makeup again.

      Closing eyes and washing is how my friend did it too. Just make sure that these products do not have lanolin in them.

      Hope this helps.

      Lynda79

       

    • Posted

      Dear Eric,

      You and one other person on another site have been the reason that I have been looking into the antibiotic for Blepharitis.

      This is the information I found that I will give you. I made it as short as possible. I took Doxycycline (orally)and it helped my eyes somewhat. The doctors said they do not know why.

      The thing I learned is that the meds do not go in the ey but on the eylashes to kill the Blepharitis.

      Hope this helps you to some degree.

      Staphylococcal blepharitis thought to be caused by a bacterium (germ) called staphylococcus.

      Benzethonium Chloride (US) and Benzalkonium Chloride (UK) are Quats. These are the ingredients that are in the antibacterial hand wipes that kill Blepharitis.

      Quats are effective in destroying a broad spectrum of harmful microorganisms. One is staphylococcus.

      Quat-based disinfectants carry a positive charge. Bacteria, viruses and fungi carry a negative charge.

      This results in the disruption of the bacteria cell wall and eventual death to the microbe.

      However, even in the case of these relatively easy to kill pathogens quats often require a contact time upwards of 10 minutes to do so.

      {I did not rinse the eyelashes after applying the antibacterial hand wipes.}

      Bacteriostatic antibiotics

      Bacteriostatic antibiotics limit the growth of bacteria by interfering with bacterial protein production, DNA replication, or other aspects of bacterial cellular metabolism. They must work together with the immune system to remove the microorganisms from the body. However, there is not always a precise distinction between them and bactericidal antibiotics; high concentrations of some bacteriostatic agents are also bactericidal, whereas low concentrations of some bacteriocidal agents are bacteriostatic.

      Doxycycline is a broad-spectrum semisynthetic tetracycline.1 Doxycycline is bacteriostatic, inhibiting bacterial protein synthesis due to disruption of transfer RNA and messenger RNA at ribosomal sites.

      Both of these (Doxycycline and the antibacterial hand wipes) work by disruption of the cell on contact. This is an article showing the dental application of Doxycycline. A topical application.

       

      Dental Information

      Please note: Anaerobic includes staphylococcus species

       

      1In vitro testing has shown that Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Campylobacter rectus, and Fusobacterium nucleatum, which are associated with periodontal disease, are susceptible to doxycycline at concentrations ≤ 6.0 µg/mL.2 A single-center, single-blind, randomized, clinical study in 45 subjects with periodontal disease demonstrated that a single treatment with ATRIDOX® resulted in the reduction in the numbers of P. gingivalis, P. intermedia, C. rectus, F. nucleatum, Bacteroides forsythus, and E. corrodens in subgingival plaque samples. Levels of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria were also reduced after treatment with ATRIDOX®. The clinical significance of these findings, however, is not known. During these studies, no overgrowth of opportunistic organisms such as Gram-negative bacilli and yeast were observed. However, as with other antibiotic preparations, ATRIDOX® therapy may result in the overgrowth of nonsusceptible organisms including fungi. (See PRECAUTIONS)

      Pharmacokinetics

      In a clinical pharmacokinetic study, subjects were randomized to receive either ATRIDOX® covered with Coe-Pak™ periodontal dressing (n=13), ATRIDOX® covered with Octyldent™ periodontal adhesive (n=13), or oral doxycycline (n=5) (according to package dosing instructions). The doxycycline release characteristics in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF), saliva, and serum were evaluated.

      Doxycycline levels in GCF peaked (~1,500 µg/mL and ~2000 µg/mL for Coe-Pak™ and Octyldent™ groups, respectively) 2 hours following treatment with ATRIDOX®. These levels remained above 1000 µg/mL through 18 hours, at which time the levels began to decline gradually. However, local levels of doxycycline remained well above the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC90) for periodontal pathogens (≤ 6.0 µg/mL)2 through Day 7. In contrast, subjects receiving oral doxycycline had peak GCF levels of ~2.5 µg/mL at 12 hours following the initial oral dosing with levels declining to ~0.2 µg/mL by Day 7. High variability was observed for doxycycline levels in GCF for both oral and ATRIDOX® treatment groups.

       

      What I got from this is that Doxycycline applied topically reduced the anaerobic bacteria (Staphylococcus Species) just like the wipes did. It took several months but the wipes did kill the Staphylococcus. Antibiotics may take less time judging from the dental application of Doxycycline.

      For those who cannot use the wipes, this may be something to look into. A chemist or Dr. would be the one to tell you the right amount for the eye.

      These wipes did not go into the eye. This antibiotic would not go into the eye. Just put on the eyelashes to kill the Staphylococcus.

      There may even be other antibiotics that are safe to put on the eyelashes that would kill Staphylococcus. A Dr. or chemist needs to be consulted.

       If this makes sense to you please let me know.

      Thinking of you,

      Lynda79

       

       

       

       

       

       

    • Posted

      Dear Eric,

      Here is some information I found that may help you.

      I got this information from Review of Ophthalmology on-line.

      Notice where this eye doctor says to put the medicine for Blepharitis.

      AzaSite is azithromycin, an antibiotic.

      “ If patients have mild-to-moderate disease, she adds AzaSite rubbed into the lid margins twice a day, which is an off-label use. “Patients put one drop of AzaSite on one index finger, rub it between both index fingers, and then rub it on the four lid margins, where the eyelashes dive into the skin on the top of the eyelid wall,” she says.”

      There is a wonderful new treatment called BlephEx. A little machine that cleans guess what? The eyelash area and the lid margins are cleaned of dead skin cells and scurf and they use tea tree oil on the rotating little head.

      If the staphylococcus infection is too bad or gone on too long it could end up being mites, called Demox, and tea tree oil is used for that problem.

      Where to treat the problem is half the battle. There are 2 things mentioned above that can help.

      Hope this information helps you.

      Lynda79

    • Posted

      Dear Eric,

      There is some information you might be interested in for your Blepharitis. It is under the post "Treatment Info for Blepharitis".

      It is by tintin25. It gives the amount of tea tree oil to use. It mentions how to dilute it. Tea tree oil kills staph too.

      Hope you can use this to help your problem as you cannot use the wipes.

      Thinking of you,

      Lynda79

      Lynda79

    • Posted

      Dear Eric,

      There is some information you might be interested in for your Blepharitis. It is under the post "Treatment Info for Blepharitis".

      It is by tintin25. It gives the amount of tea tree oil to use. It mentions how to dilute it. Tea tree oil kills staph too.

      Lynda 79

      Lynda79

      Lynda79

    • Posted

      Dear Eric,

      There is some information you might be interested in for your Blepharitis. It is under the post "Treatment Info for Blepharitis". 

      It gives the amount of tea tree oil to use. It mentions how to dilute it. Tea tree oil kills staph too.

      Lynda 79

      Lynda79

      Lynda79

    • Posted

      Dear Eric,

       I read on a post on thise site how to dilute tea tree oil and how effective it was for them. It mentions the amount of times to use it too. It was under Treatment Info for Blepharitis.

      This may be something you could use.

      Lynda79

      Lynda 79

      Lynda79

      Lynda79

    • Posted

      Dear Eric,

       I read on a post on thise site how to dilute tea tree oil and how effective it was for them. It mentions the amount of times to use it too.

      This may be something you might want to look into.

      Lynda79

      Lynda 79

      Lynda79

      Lynda79

    • Posted

      Dear Eric,

       I read on thise site how to dilute tea tree oil and how effective it was as it kills staph too. It mentions the amount of times to use it too.

      This may be something you might want to look into.

      Lynda79

      Lynda 79

      Lynda79

      Lynda79

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.