How I Cured My Blepharitis With Honey

How I Cured My Blepharitis With Manuka Honey And Herbal Drops

I had been suffering from chronic blepharitis for more than 5 months when I finally found the right treatment and managed to get rid of it.

Here is how I cured my blepharitis with honey and herbal drops and how you can cure yours too.

What is blepharitis?

Blepharitis is a chronic inflammation of the eyelid.

What are the symptoms of blepharitis?

The most common symptoms of blepharitis are the following^1,2:

Redness
Burning
Stinging
Itching
Flaking
Scaling
and crusting of the eyelids.

What causes blepharitis?

The causes of infectious blepharitis are:

Parasites
Bacteria
Viruses
Fungi

Whereas the origins of non-infectious blepharitis include:

Allergens
Drugs
Chemicals
Toxins

Parasitic blepharitis

Demodex

Demodex is a significant cause of blepharitis. It is present in 73% of patients with blepharitis³.

Demodectic chronic blepharitis is usually associated with bacteria inside the parasites^4,5.

What is Demodex

Demodex is a type of mite (acarid) that lives on humans. It is the most common ectoparasite found in man⁶.

It is present on or in the skin, essentially on the face, mouth, chest, armpits, and pubis⁶.

The prevalence of Demodex in healthy adults varies between 23-100%⁷.

Demodex infestation usually remains asymptomatic; however, it becomes pathogenic when present in high densities due to immune imbalance⁷.

Demodectic blepharitis

The more common and longer parasite, Demodex folliculorum, is found in the eyelash and hair follicles. Whereas Demodex brevis is located in the meibomian and sebaceous glands⁶.

Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevis.

When Demodex folliculorum infests the eyelash, it produces whitish or yellowish crusty debris visible around the base of the eyelash⁶.

Namely, as the parasite migrates up the eyelash follicle, its sharp claws shred the epithelial wall, thereby contributing to this bulk of debris. This can lead to mechanical blockage of the follicle⁶.

©Wikimedia *Demodex* can cause crusty debris around the bases of the eyelashes.

Chalazion

Demodex brevis, on the other hand, can obstruct meibomian oil glands, leading to a cyst in the eyelid known as a chalazion^6,8.

Namely, when migrating through adipose tissue Demodex‘s sharp claws rupture small vessels with resultant bleeding and inflammation⁶.

Stye

A stye is when the meibomian glands (internal hordeolum) or the Zeis and Moll glands (external hordeolum) become infected with staphylococcal bacteria^9,10,11 in addition to Demodex.

Demodex and bacteria symbiosis

The number of bacteria present in the eyelids of patients suffering from demodectic blepharitis has shown to be higher than that of the controls with Demodex⁴.

As such, the parasite may act as a carrier of bacteria, which most probably function as a co-pathogen in severe blepharitis⁵.

Demodex and rosacea

Demodex mites carrying bacteria can also induce rosacea and acne^12,13,14.

For this reason, the presence of these dermatological conditions can help to establish the cause of blepharitis.

Phthirus pubis

Pubic crab lice louse blepharitis phthiriasis palpebrarum. — ©Wikimedia Pubic or crab louse.

The louse is another parasite capable of causing blepharitis.

Although adult lice typically infest the hair, an infestation of the cilia and eyelid is also possible¹⁵.

Phthirus pubis, the pubic or crab louse, is the most common cause of lice infestation on the eyelashes and eyebrows¹⁵.

It is transmitted by hand contact from the genital area to the eyes¹⁵.

This form of blepharitis is characterized by itching, protuberances, hyperpigmentary changes, and the buried lice in both eyelids¹⁵.

Pubic lice infestation of the eyelid, known as “phthiriasis palpebrarum”, is commonly misdiagnosed, as symptoms may be confused with other causes of blepharoconjunctivitis¹⁶.

Viral blepharitis

Viruses responsible for blepharitis include the Herpes simplex and Varicella zoster (shingles) herpesviruses¹⁷.

Herpes simplex-induced blepharitis can either be vesicular¹⁸ or erosive-ulcerative¹⁹.

Herpes simplex virus vesicular blepharitis. — ©Wikimedia Vesicular herpes-induced blepharitis.

Herpes simplex erosive ulcerative blepharitis. — ©Wikimedia Erosive-ulcerative herpes-induced blepharitis.

On the other hand, Herpes zoster-induced blepharitis, also known as herpes zoster ophthalmicus, typically involves vesicular lesions, crusting, swelling, and pain^20,21,22.

Herpes zoster varicella VZV shingles virus viral blepharitis. — ©Wikimedia Herpes zoster-induced blepharitis.

Fungal blepharitis

Fungi capable of inducing blepharitis include²³^,24,2:

Malassezia furfur
Aspergillus flavus
Trichophyton verrucosum
Penicillium and Candida species.

The common symptoms of fungal blepharitis are redness and itchiness of the edge of the eyelid^23,24.

Bacterial blepharitis

The most frequent bacteria found in the eyelids of patients suffering from blepharitis are^23,26,4:

Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (including Staphylococcus epidermidis)
Staphylococcus aureus
Corynebacterium
Streptococcus viridans
Moraxella Bacillus
Propinibacterium acnes

As mentioned in the “parasitic blepharitis” section, bacteria and Demodex parasites responsible for blepharitis are mainly co-pathogens.

They live in symbiosis and synergistically cause blepharitis symptoms.

How I Cured My Blepharitis With Honey: Treatment

Here is how I cured my blepharitis with honey:

1. Every night before bed, I cleaned my eyelids with manuka honey eye drops.

How to make manuka honey eye drops for pink eye (conjunctivitis) and blepharitis.

Here Is How To Make Manuka Honey Eye Drops For Blepharitis.

2. The following morning I washed my eyelids thoroughly with water.

3. Three times daily, I took orally one dropperful of an anti-parasitic herbal blend mixed with water.

Now Foods anti-parasitic antiparasitic herbal blend tincture for blepharitis.

The redness, the swelling, and the flaking were gone after about 10 days.

However, I repeated this treatment for 3 weeks.

It’s been 6 months now and my eyelids are in perfect condition.

Manuka honey for blepharitis

Manuka honey for pink eye pinkeye conjunctivitis.

Honey has amazing health benefits. It has, namely, antiviral²⁷^,²⁸^,²⁹, antibacterial³⁰^,³¹ ^,³²^,³³, antifungal³⁴^,35, antiparasitic³⁶^,³⁷^,³⁸, anti-inflammatory, and healing effects³⁹.

Manuka honey is a special honey that bees produce from the flowers of the manuka tree, Leptospermum scoparium⁴⁰.

Leptospermum shrubs and trees grow uncultivated throughout both southeastern Australia and New Zealand⁴⁰.

Just like other types of honey, manuka honey has anti-infectious, anti-inflammatory, and healing effects.

Besides, manuka honey contains methylglyoxal (MGO), its precursor dihydroxyacetone (DHA), and leptosperin⁴⁰.

MGO is an antibacterial compound that is 100 times more concentrated in manuka honey than in other honey⁴¹.

The quantity of MGO in manuka honey has been revealed to be directly proportional to its antibacterial activity.

Leptosperin is also an antibacterial and possibly anti-inflammatory substance abundantly found in manuka honey⁴³.

Studies report that manuka honey inhibits the proliferation of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria⁴⁴.

Here Is How To Make Manuka Honey Eye Drops For Blepharitis.

How I Cured My Blepharitis With Honey: Treatment

How to apply manuka honey eye drops for blepharitis

1. Every night before bed, clean your eyelids with manuka honey eye drops using a cotton pad.

2. Using a Q-tip, clean gently along the upper eyelid margin in one movement from the inner to the outer canthus.

3. Repeat the same thing with the lower eyelid margin.

4. The following morning, wash your eyelids with water.

Anti-parasitic herbal blend for blepharitis

The anti-parasitic tincture Green Black Walnut Wormwood Complex consists of 3 different medicinal herbs extracts. Namely,

1. Green/black walnut hulls (Juglans nigra)

2. Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)

3. Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum)

Each of these herbs eliminates parasites at a different stage of their life cycle.

In particular, green-black walnuts eradicate adult parasites, wormwood eliminates larvae, and cloves kill parasite eggs.

These three herbs also have antifungal and antiviral properties.

Take orally one dropperful of anti-parasitic tincture mixed with water 3 times daily.

Makeup tip

If you usually wear makeup, don’t wear any during the treatment.

Throw out your mascara, eyeshadows, eyeliner, kohl and makeup brushes as they could be infested with lice or Demodex.

I recommend putting on new makeup only once you have finished the treatment.

Can fake eyelashes cause blepharitis?

While I cured my blepharitis, I learned that false eyelashes cause eyelid inflammation.

It was not my case, however, as I have never had any.

Since fake eyelashes, especially eyelash extensions, have become trendy again, there has been an increase in cases of lice- and Demodex-induced blepharitis.

Namely, fake eyelashes provide an environment that favors the proliferation of these parasites.

It is due to poor hygiene and toxicity of the glue used to bond eyelash extensions⁴⁵.

Those who suffer from blepharitis should avoid fake eyelashes during the treatment.

Summary: How I cured my blepharitis with honey

This is how I cured my blepharitis with honey:

1. Every night before bed, I applied manuka honey to my eyelids.

2. The following morning, I cleaned my eyelids with water.

3. Three times daily, I took orally an anti-parasitic herbal blend mixed with water.

4. I repeated this for 3 weeks.