Lid Hygiene 101
Good eyelid and lash hygiene is important for all of us.
Eyelid and lash hygiene removes debris, make-up, lipid by-products, bacterial load & bacterial toxins and biofilms which reduces irritation and inflammation both now and into the future. This leaves your eyes more comfortable, clearer and healthier. It also means less lash loss.
How do you clean your lids and lashes each day?
Depending on if you need just routine care products or management of Blepharitis, Demodex Mites or MGD, there are a range of products available. Most involve gentle cleaning along the lash area and may be recommended from twice daily use to once per week.
Lid & Lash Hygiene plays a key role in keeping the eyes clear, comfortable and healthy. What you needed to do does vary on how your eyes are at the moment.
We should all ensure we remove make up each day and clean around our eyes when washing our face. An eye friendly face wash or eye make up remover is key here. An additional benefit is less lash loss.
If you have Blepharitis your eye care professonal may recommend a specific formula to help manage your condition. This is important as varying ingredients have better cleansing and anti-inflammatory effects. If you have Demodex, a formula with Tea Tree Oil will often be recommended. In both these instances, a premoisted wipe or foam formula may be recommended.
For Meibomian Gland Dysfunction, a pre-moisted wipe or foam may be recommended. A hypochlorous spray may also be all that’s needed. These solutions mimic the human body’s response to pathological organisms. Neutorophils naturally release hypochlorous acid when insulted by bacteria. These products not only remove debris, but they also relieve chronic irritation and decrease the body’s own inflammatory mediators.
For all lid & lash cleansing products you want to focus on the lash area… this will mean you get the edge of the eyelid (lid margin) where the meibomian glands open out and the base of the lashes where mites, bacteria and debris get lodged.
Close your eye and wipe the solution back and forth across the eyelashes and the edge of the eyelid - use the premoisted wipe, a cotton pad with your recommended product or your clean finger. While you are trying to remove debris, avoid scrubbing to vigerously.
Use clear cool water to rinse the scrub solution if recommended.
Then repeat with the other eye.
Examples of products include Systane Lid Wipes (Alcon), Theratears® SteriLid®, Opti-Soothe Eyelid Wipes (AFT Pharma), Blephadex™ Eyelid Wipes & Foam, i-Lid n Lash Plus® (I-MED Pharma), OCuSoft® Lid Scrubs and Hypocholorous preparations.
Ever been told to use baby shampoo???
Step away from that bottle!!! While using baby shampoo to clean around your eyes wont cause stinging and will get them clean it also has been shown to have harmful effects.
Wait?? If it's safe enough for a baby, it's has to be safe enough for the eyes! Right?
Baby Shampoo can have ingredients that rank as a 'moderate to high hazards' on www.ewg.org and can actually cause eye allergies.
Baby Shampoo can also make the eyes drier as they can damage the goblet cells on the eye surface, which make part of our tears.