Dealing With Eczema On Eyelids

Eyelid eczema is one of the most daunting forms of eczema that you can experience. It's not just another part of your body, it protects your organ of sight which is so important for you to just even know where to navigate to get to the skincare products that you need and the healthy food needed to heal and rebuild healthy skill cells.

Eyelid eczema symptoms

When you have eyelid eczema, it can get so inflamed and swollen that you can't even open your eyes. I have been there and when I would go through it, it provoked a lot of anxiety and made me feel like I was never going to be a competent, autonomous adult.

Is it blepharitis?

Many times when I would rub my eyelids from itchiness, I noticed that this thick, rubbery, mucus-like secretion would come out of my tear ducts. Upon doing some research, I think that some form of blepharitis which is an inflammation of the eyelid was happening. It would feel kind of freaky like having really thick tears secreting from my tear ducts. And at times so much of it would secrete that it would literally shut my eyes closed. On some level, it felt like a defensive and protective mechanism of the eye to keep anything more destructive from happening to the eyeball itself.

Mucus and tearing up

The way it would stop and give me a chance to open my eyes again is that it would take me calming down from my scratching to give myself a break and allow actual tears to start flowing from my tear ducts again. Perhaps my tears were the solvent for this secretion? Then I would open them and all this thick, yet stringy rubbery substance would have accumulated at the corners of my eyes. I would remove it gently with a tissue. But some parts were so sticky that it would take a little bit more time before it loosened up its adhesion to my inner eyelid tissue.

Thankfully, through perseverance, experimentation, and stubborn hopefulness, I have found some ways that have helped me to live in the moment so that I can recover from it faster if not at least cope with it better when it's happening.

Putting ice on eyelid eczema

The first thing that really helps me is that I ice the inflamed area or put something cool like a refrigerated waterbottle on top of my eyelids. This is usually an instinctive first step for us people with active eczema flare-ups to want to do and it really does help to bring a sense of soothing and cooling to the area. Plus, it's a great distraction from the pain and the heat coming from the flare-up. Also, holding a cold object to your eyelid is a great way to give your hands something else to do besides continuously scratching and rubbing at it.

Breathing exercises

Something else that was really helpful to avoid scratch-fests was to try to nip it in the bud by deep exhalations and meditative thoughts. I noticed that it would often get triggered when I was stressed out or feeling anxious about something like finals, work, or after having a fight with a partner. Prevention is always key. And if I couldn’t avoid the stressful event, I could at least control my breathing pattern.

Have you had eyelid eczema?

Have you ever experienced any similar symptoms like these? Comment below with your thoughts, stories and tips! Looking forward to reading them!