Asked by Anonymous - Can I Use Vinegar For Lid Scrubs For Blepharitis? : Is it ok to try using apple cider vinegar for doing eyelid scrubs?  Vinegar kills bacteria right?  I was thinking about trying this but dont want to do if it something bad with the eyes would occur i'm not sure.

Anonymous Says: I can tell you what my opthamologist told me.  He said use baby shampoo and warm wash cloth.  The goal is to shampoo the base of the eye lashes, and dont over scrub them to hard because that will inflame it, you want to gently shampoo the eyelids especially at the base of the eyelashes and rinse it.  I think using vinegar or apple cider vinegar may risk burning in the eyes if you get any in there at all.   I'll ask my opthamologist next time I'm in there as I have a checkup coming up.   I'll post back here when its done.

Anonymous Says: Here is something I recently learned that everyone should take note of if you have eye problems from the bacteria or blepharitis type issues.  For 10 years I was going to eye doctor and when they said do lid scrubs I washed in the shower in the morning, but never really took it seriously with the eye lids other then that, and of course I continued to have dry eyes and itchy eyes from this.  Finally I read elsewhere that people with the exact same symptoms as me said I needed to do it 2 or 3 times every day. Anyways for the past month, I started taking it much more serious.  Every morning I use baby shampoo and rub little circles all way up and down my eye lashes (I can feel the top eye lashes pushing up when I do this).  You dont have to do it hard, dont rough it up, just clean it like this.  It probably takes me 30 seconds of doing these along the eye line.  Then I also soap and wash my face to get rid of all oil including the eyebrows (think that you need to get rid of oil everywhere there).  I've done this every day morning, sometimes mid day, and always before bed.  This means twice a day every day, sometimes 3 times. The opthamologist just told me its the best he has ever seen the blepharitis on me.  It works.  He said on a scale of 1 to 10, its under a 2, this is the first time in years the doctor has said anything positive related to this to me.   The bottom line is you just have to take it serious.

Anonymous Says: Its not worth messing around with a "magic cure" like vinegar.  If that was really good for you then doctors would tell you to put vinegar on your eyelashes, but instead eye doctors tell you to use baby shampoo for the eyelashes, not "vinegar".

Anonymous Says: Here are 2 critical things. When you buy a bottle of baby shampoo for your eye lashes, DONT buy generic!  You need to buy Johnsons baby shampoo because they are the only ones that guarantee no additives and other stuff like that has been added. The other thing is make SURE you get it all washed off! You can irritate your eyes even more if not done right.  If in the shower then its easier but if washing in sink, make sure you are getting it all off, dont just splash a little water on it and assume its good.

Anonymous Says: I like using a cotton ball at the end after I've already washed eye lashes because the cotton holds alot of water, and I wipe that along eye lids to make sure all soap is flushed off.

X Says: I wrote the 3rd post above about taking it serious.  I just wanted to follow up as its been many months now.  My eyes have felt great and I havent had to do any tobradex treatments and my eyes dont feel dry or irritated like eventually always happened in the past.  I have never missed one of the "lid scrubs", and I typically do it twice a day.  Once when I get up (either in shower or if on weekend and I dont shower, then I do it in sink) and always before going to bed.  I dont do it hard, just make sure its clean.   This has worked, but in the past I just halfhazardly did it once a day.  It definitely works if you take it seriously.

Anonymous Says: Doctors don’t talk about apple cider effect on blepheritis because they don’t want people to know about natural cures. They will be out of job if there was a natural cure for everything. Apple cider works with blepherits, baby shampoo doesn’t.

Anonymous Says: Baby shampoo has worked for me though, it has gotten rid of it.  I think any soap will work as stated the baby shampoo doesnt irritate eyes when wiping on eye lids / lashes in shower.  I change it up soemtimes

Anonymous Says: Dove soap also can be used because it doesnt have all the additives and perfumes that irritate the eyes  (just basic dove soap, not ones with moisturizers and that type of stuff).  The other thing is look for products with tea tree oil, you can get soaps that have this as tea tree oil kills bacteria and there and mites that can live on your eye lashes and causes blepharitis and tea tree oil soaps can get rid of that.  Just dont get it in your eyes though.

Anonymous Says: For me the best thing seems to be the dove soap where I wash before bed and in morning and lightly rub the soap across eyelashes.  I like that better then baby shampoo because it washes off much quicker when washing face in the sink.  At lesat for me it does.

Anonymous Says: By the way even during mid day I sometimes feel my eyes getting itchy and I'll go wash my face in sink at that time also because it does seem to feel better after that, I think just getting that oil off helps alot.

Anonymous Says: Eye doctor told me to just use dove soap or johnsons baby shampoo, whichever one you like best, and dont mess with anything else.   He said there is no reason to use anything else as other stuff can irritate your eyes.  You have to stick with it for months, so dont try it one or two days and say it doesnt work.   I've been doing this for years and I can tell you it works, I do whenever I feel like I need it which is usually twice a day, sometimes 3 times a day.   The other thing that helps is get a "bruder dry eye mask" that you heat up and use for 5 minutes a day.  This has helped me alot (I paid around $15 for it on walmart online), it was another suggestion by the eye doctor.  I dont use that every day, but once a week or so or if my eyes feel dry, and that does seem to help. The purpose is to warm up the ducts and gets oils flowing.

Anonymous Says: The bruder mask really does help alot, whenever my eyes feel itchy or dry is when I use it. Not quite sure how it works but for 5 minutes of effort its well worth it.  Forget vinegar or anything like that, just wash the face and eye lids and use bruder mask once a day or once every few days etc.  It will make a difference if you stick with this pattern for a few months. Also if you wake up with really dry eyes in the morning, have eye drops next to your pillow so you can immediately put them in.  I've noticed it irritates my eyes throughout the day if I leave them dry in the morning vs lubricating them immediately when I wake up (not visine or anything like that, just preservative free eye drops).

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