Found a routine after 15 years!

I used to frequent DryEyeTalk all the time looking for ideas that might help. I was diagnosed with posterior blepharitis, and dry eye syndrome, back in 2004 when I was 21. My eyes would always look red and irritated, and it really got me down. I could have picked up these symptoms either from Roaccutane (Accutane) or Prozac, which I used for a short time. I have spent thousands on different treatments and supplements over the years, and tried so many things (heat compresses, baby shampoo, juice fasts, detoxes, flaxseed oil, herbal treatments (e.g. euphrasia), to name just a few). For a long time I was tempted to have eye whitening surgery done in South Korea, but was very hesitant. I was so fixated on resolving the issue that it consumed my thoughts for years. The only things that helped a little over the years were NAC, omega 3, and Theratears Steralid (but this could sometimes irritate and cause new permanent veins to appear if I wasn’t careful). 

For the last 5 years, I've been going to see an eye specialist in Hamilton, New Zealand. He tried to lower my tear osmolarity by using the Blephex machine which removes demodex mites. He has also given me several IPL treatments to heat the meibomian glands and loosen the lipids, and then lid expression with forceps. (I also tried Lipiflow once as a test patient. When I applied for a second treatment, my doctor said the treatments were around $1000, and he said IPL would help just as much.) The IPL on its own wasn’t enough to make the conjunctivas of the eyes white and clear again. But using Head & Shoulders Dry Scalp Care has made the eyes look so much clearer , and I use Heyedrate spray (or alternatively Avenova) too, which contains hypochlorous acid to remove lipase around the eyes. My hairdresser has told me not to use Head & Shoulders as it causes male pattern baldness, so because of this I only use it sometimes. Does anyone know if this is true?

Since I’ve had this condition of dry eye, I never get “sleep” in my eyes like I used to, but instead it’s like white stringy mucus (sorry). This is still the case, but the whites of my eyes are a lot clearer and I look healthy again. People don't tell me my eyes are bloodshot anymore. Just writing this now I realise how much more grateful I should be now. My eyes used to look their very worst under fluorescent lights or when I'd had coffee or alcohol, so I avoided coffee and alcohol for many years. They still are a little red under fluorescent lights, but better than they were. Sometimes when people have found relief from dry eye, they've never come back to this site to inform others, so I thought I would write. Hopefully this can help some people.

So basically the three things that have helped make my eyes so much clearer: IPL, H&S Dry Scalp Care Shampoo, and Heyedrate.

Andrew Ingle

Tauranga, New Zealand