What is Blepharitis?
Blepharitis is inflammation of the eyelids. It happens when the tiny glands along the lashes get clogged or irritated, causing the lids to become red, flaky, and uncomfortable. It’s a common condition and often chronic, but it can be managed with good eyelid hygiene.
Common Signs of Blepharitis
- Loss of lashes
- Red, swollen, or tender eyelids
- Crusty flakes at the lash line
- Burning or gritty feeling in the eyes
- Itchy eyelids
- Watery or irritated eyes
- Styes or frequent chalazia
What is the Demodex Mite?
Demodex mites are tiny organisms that naturally live on our skin — most people have them and never know it. But when they multiply too much around the eyelashes, they can clog the oil glands and irritate the eyelids.
How They Affect Your Eyes:
Too many Demodex mites can cause itchy, red, flaky eyelids, burning eyes, poor-quality tears, and even recurrent styes. They weaken the eyelid’s natural defenses, leading to ongoing irritation and dry eye symptoms.
How They Affect Your Eyes:
Too many Demodex mites can cause itchy, red, flaky eyelids, burning eyes, poor-quality tears, and even recurrent styes. They weaken the eyelid’s natural defenses, leading to ongoing irritation and dry eye symptoms.
Microscopic - Up to 1300 live per lid!
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Did you know: Demodex has been linked to: |
Significant build up of glands leading to painful lid infections.
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Sever oily buildup and beginning of 2 new "sty's" on the upper lid.
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Many "sty's" present with loss of lashes and thicken of eyelids. Here our patient has both. Upper lid shows a new "sty" showing with thinning lids. On the lower lid we see scarring, a bad sign the infection is breaking down the lid line. You can also see loss of lashes.
How does Bleph-Ex work?
How We Treat Eyelid Inflammation (Including Demodex)
We start with a gentle antibiotic/anti-inflammatory pre-treatment to calm irritation and reduce bacteria. Next, we use a foam eyelid cleanser to remove excess oil, dust, and buildup along the lash line.
We then recommend warm heat therapy to open the oil glands and a natural, homeopathic artificial tear to rinse away any remaining debris. Our office also uses targeted vitamin support, which helps improve eye comfort from the inside out. For more severe cases, we may add a short course of oral antibiotics to boost healing.
BlephEx: A New, Gentle Deep-Cleaning for Your Eyelids
Our newest treatment is BlephEx, a system that gently removes debris, bacteria, and buildup from the eyelid margins. Think of it like polishing your eyelids and lashes—similar to how a dental cleaning removes plaque. This deep cleaning helps reduce inflammation, improves eyelid health, and supports better tear quality.
We start with a gentle antibiotic/anti-inflammatory pre-treatment to calm irritation and reduce bacteria. Next, we use a foam eyelid cleanser to remove excess oil, dust, and buildup along the lash line.
We then recommend warm heat therapy to open the oil glands and a natural, homeopathic artificial tear to rinse away any remaining debris. Our office also uses targeted vitamin support, which helps improve eye comfort from the inside out. For more severe cases, we may add a short course of oral antibiotics to boost healing.
BlephEx: A New, Gentle Deep-Cleaning for Your Eyelids
Our newest treatment is BlephEx, a system that gently removes debris, bacteria, and buildup from the eyelid margins. Think of it like polishing your eyelids and lashes—similar to how a dental cleaning removes plaque. This deep cleaning helps reduce inflammation, improves eyelid health, and supports better tear quality.
Loss of lashes and damage of the glands.
"Collates," the MAIN sign of the Demodex mite. We want to get rid of these as quickly as possible. When we see this type of build up it usually always a sign of the mite being present. Remember 25 can live per lash follicle and up to 1300 total per lid! The Demodex Mite causes the breakdown of tissue, infections, loss of lashes and can lead to dry eyes, etc.
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Severe Deposits with lash loss and swelling.
Our patient here shows a much more severe case! Buildup galore! We incorporated antibiotic and vitamin therapy as well as lid hygiene.
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Oil - capped and oozing glands causing blurry vision.
Plugged glands! Here you can see glands which are “capped” and are having a hard time excreting normal oil/mucus. BlephEx, heat, lidscrubs, and vitamin therapy do wonders!
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Before and after pictures
This patient had a heavy buildup on the eyelids consistent with blepharitis, Demodex mite infestation, and Staph bacterial overgrowth. He came in with itchy, gritty, irritated eyes and thought it was “just normal.”
After treatment, he noticed a significant improvement in eyelid comfort and overall eye relief.
After treatment, he noticed a significant improvement in eyelid comfort and overall eye relief.