What is Ocular Rosacea?

There are some 14 million individuals in the United States alone that suffer from some form of rosacea.  Often confused for acne, it’s a dermatological condition that often manifests itself in adults through small red bumps on the skin or perhaps red patches that show up on the face, normally around the cheeks, nose and forehead.

About 50% of the people who suffer from rosacea have an additional condition that is commonly known as ocular rosacea.  This is an inflammatory eye condition which affects the inside of the eyelids and often leaves the individual who was suffering from it feeling a burning sensation or as though they constantly have grit in their eyes.  Let’s take a look at ocular rosacea, learn some of the symptoms of it as well as what can be done in order to treat it.

What are the symptoms?

Ocular rosacea is a condition that can manifest itself in connection with the more visible types of rosacea or may be a problem in and of itself.  It causes a number of different symptoms, including a persistent burning in the eyes as well as broken blood vessels, swollen eyelids and small bumps or papules on the eyelids.

People with this condition can also suffer from light sensitivity and ocular rosacea left untreated can cause a number of different difficulties, some as serious as blindness.  Since most of us have a hypersensitivity to any problems in the eyes, this is usually one of the first conditions connected to rosacea that is brought to a doctor’s attention.

What causes it?

One of the main causes of ocular rosacea is flushing, a common condition that is also present in many people with skin rosacea as well.  Whenever you have a problem with flushing, it tends to damage the blood vessels in the eyelids along with causing some swelling.  This, in turn, causes the burning and gritty feeling that many people experience.  Another common problem which causes ocular rosacea is a meibomian glandular dysfunction in which either too much or too little oil is produced.

What should I avoid?

For all of the rosacea research that has gone into this problem, including some breakthrough research done by the University of California, very little is known about how to handle the problem.  Often, it is a matter of identifying rosacea triggers that may irritate the condition.  This can come in the form of different foods that we eat as well as irritants that we tend to put on our skin whenever we are trying to treat it.

That is why it is important to keep a running log on the things that you are doing to your body, including makeup or other cosmetics,  and how they tend to affect your skin over the course of the next several days.  This can help you gather information and identify many of the problems which might cause additional irritation and give you an effective way to overcome it to a large extent.

What are some of the treatments?

Of course, there are some other types of rosacea treatments that may help in many cases.  One of these treatments is intense pulsed light and this has shown to help, not only with ocular rosacea but also to reduce the flushing and redness that may be one of the sources of the rosacea in the first place.  There are also some natural treatments but these should be used under your doctor’s supervision, especially since you’re dealing with such a sensitive area of your body.

If your ocular rosacea has moved beyond burning eyes, eyelids that are swollen and a general irritation, there may be other treatments that can help which a medical professional can advise you on.  For example, broken blood vessels in the eyelids may be removed through rosacea laser treatments.  These treatments may also help with facial flushing to a certain extent.

As additional rosacea research takes place, we may be able to find additional treatments that can help and not only overcoming this problem, but reversing some of the effects that it has on us.