Here are 7 tips on ocular rosacea treatment!

Find out what to ask your doctor, and check out the video below for more detailed information.

Tip 1: Avoid Your Triggers

People of all forms of rosacea are known to have certain triggers which can cause flareups of their signs and symptoms.

Some triggers may include:

Spicy foods
UV light exposure
Dairy products
Alcohol
Excersize
Emotional stress
Hot beverages
Heat
Medications
Higher doses of vitamin B6 and B12

Everyone can experience flareups from different triggers, so you may have to experiment to figure out what your triggers are.

Tip 2: Manage Blepharitis

Blepharitis is the build up of microorganisms, dead skin cells, and inflammation of the eyelids. For this, daily warm compresses on the eyelids have been recommended, also daily or weekly eyelid scrubs with some sort of foaming cleanser that has tea tree oil in it. Tea tree oil is known to get rid of demodex mites, a microscopic dust mite that loves to live and burrow in the hair follicles of your eyelashes, and has been found to be a major problem for people with rosacea.

PRO TIP! Warm compresses help treat the oil glands to produce better oils, but if heat is one of you triggers, then perhaps it could actually be making things worse. If you’ve done warm compresses and you think it makes your ocular rosacea worse, definitely talk to your doctor about this to determine if they think you should keep doing them.

Tip 3: Omega 3s!

The value of omega 3 supplements in the treatment of dry eye and ocular surface disease are highly debated in eye care. But a randomized, double-masked study from 2013 did show that patients taking 1.5 grams of Omega 3 supplements did show significant improvement in their meibomian gland dysfunction after both 1 month and 3 months. However, it’s important to note that the supplement in this study did contain other vitamins and minerals.

Tip 4: Control the Inflammation

Inflammation plays a huge role in dry eyes and all forms of ocular surface disease, including rosacea and ocular rosacea. Two great options prescribed are topical steroids and topical cyclosporine.

Tip 5: Oral Medications

Ask about possible oral medications. There are various medications showing promising results in the research for treating rosacea, and even ocular rosacea. Ask your doctor if one of these may be an option for you!

Tip 6: Intense Pulsed Light

Consider an IPL procedure. This stands for Intense Pulsed Light. This procedure can be a great option for ocular rosacea, but also for dry eyes as well. Keep in mind, IPL may not be available at every eye clinic, and may be cost-prohibitive.

If you’d like to learn more about IPL hear about my personal experience with it, check out this video.

Tip 7: Ask about Brimonidine

While bromonidine eye drops have not been studied for ocular rosacea at this time, these gels and ointments have been used as a treatment for regular rosacea. I have many patients who find it very beneficial, especailly with flareups of redness on the eyelids. However this would be off label, so it’s very important to ask your doctor if this is a good option.

PRO TIP: Don’t use Lumify or other over-the-counter “get the red out” eye drops before seeing your doctor. Otherwise, it will make your eyes look whiter and masks symptoms your doctor may be looking for to make a proper diagnosis.

Ocular rosacea is often confused with dry eye syndrome – watch this to learn more!

Sources for my EyeNerds

DISCLAIMER:

-This information is not meant for medical diagnosis or treatment. You should follow up with your local healthcare provider regarding all matters related to your health.

-Check out the video above for more detailed information on this topic!

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