I’ve experienced relatively healthy eyes for most of my life. However, I had a slight change in my eyesight after giving birth to my first child. The difference was enough that I had to start wearing glasses every time I used the computer. But things got worse after my second child in 2020. Not only did my eyesight in the left eye change significantly more than the right, but I also developed dry, red, irritated, and tired eyes. I brushed it off because I thought it was caused by sleep deprivation due to having a newborn.
But once my second baby started sleeping through the night when she was three months old, my eyesight and the other irritable symptoms didn’t improve. These symptoms prohibited my lifestyle, and as you know, anything that starts to annoy me I have to fix immediately!
My eyes were awful first thing in the morning and just before bed. I had no idea why my eyes were so sore. After attending my yearly eye check-up with my optometrist, I was diagnosed with dry eye syndrome. There was no particular reason I started suffering from dry eye, nor was there a ‘cure’.
Dry Eye Syndrome treatment – Blephasteam goggles
After doing my research and discussing my concerns with my optometrist, it was agreed that it was best to use a steam goggle treatment combined with a manual extraction that would remove the hard build-up of oils in my eyelid ducks.
Each treatment costs around $50 and takes 30 mins (including consultation time). It involves steam goggles (which is impossible to buy, so you can’t do it yourself at home!) The goggles are worn for around 10 mins, and the steam passes through the goggles, warming up your entire eye area. It’s soothing and relaxing, and your eyes feel very refreshed afterwards. After the goggle treatment, the optometrist applies pressure to the eyelid glands to extract the hardened oils from the eye ducks. It sounds gross, but the relief straight after is blissful. Pity, it’s not permanent, and nor does it last long enough before you see yourself marching right back to your optometrists to do the entire treatment again.
I’m not too fond of the idea of being a slave to treatments that are costly and time-consuming. I never accept this as being an option – and neither should you. Nevertheless, I persisted and spoke to my doctor, expressing how unhappy I was that I needed to keep going to my optometrists for this steam goggle treatment.
Second diagnosis – Blepharitis which is caused by my dry eye
The doctor referred me to see an eye specialist for a more detailed diagnosis. After a consultation with the eye specialist, I walked away happy and relieved to learn that my rosacea was the cause of my dry eye. I had blepharitis, and because of this, I had dry eye syndrome.
Blepharitis/Dry Eye Treatment
To treat blepharitis, the doctor at the eye clinic suggested the next 4-6 weeks, I need to wipe my eyes clean in the morning and night. I would then have to use a super lubricant eye ointment Vita Pos before bed. It’s been three weeks now, and I can’t believe how much better my eyes feel—no more red dry, gritty eyes in the morning. I will have to do this routine on and off for the rest of my life. But at least I know the triggers and how to deal with them. If you don’t want to use the eyelid wipes (which are simply wonderful to use and leave the eyes feeling so fresh and rejuvenated), the eye doctor suggests using warm water on a cotton ball and baby shampoo or no tear shampoo to use to wipe the oil, dirt, makeup and grit that gets built up in the eyelids.
If you have a dry eye, I’d love to know how long you have had it, how you got it, what you have tried, and what you now use to work?
