Finally! I found out the cause of my swollen, red, itchy eyelids!
Turns out it's caused by a yeast, similar to dandruff. I happened upon this information when I ordered a shampoo sample online and they had a questionnaire that mentioned, among other things, "seborrheic dermatitis."
What is seborrheic dermatitis?
Seborrheic dermatitis is a common skin disorder that can be easily treated. This condition is a red, scaly, itchy rash most commonly seen on the scalp, sides of the nose, eyebrows, eyelids, skin behind the ears, and middle of the chest. Other areas, such as the navel (belly button), buttocks, skin folds under the arms, axillary regions, breasts, and groin, may also be involved.
This really caught my attention. For the longest time, I only had symptoms on my eyelids - swelling, redness, itchiness - but recently, I did notice some flaking in my belly button, behind my ears, and at a spot on my scalp.
I bought some Nizoral shampoo and T/Sal and tried both, putting a dab of them on my eyelids in the shower and washing off after a few minutes. It stung but my eyelids got better, immediately, and my eyes felt refreshed!
A few days later, I received an e-mail by "Resa" who had read by earlier newslog entries:
I had been battling red itchy eyelids for about two years. A few months ago I developed redness, scaliness, and itchiness on my ears, behind my neck and a rectangle area on my abdomen. I showed it to my nephew, an ER doctor and he said it probably was an ID reaction. He said I probably had some type of yeast infection and he prescribed one Diflucan pill. It cleared my eyes up within a week. The areas on my neck and abdomen are almost gone too.
This confirmed my suspicion. It's seborreic dermatitis!
How long does this disease last?
Seborrheic dermatitis may get better on its own, but with regular treatments, the condition improves quickly.
Can it be prevented or cured?
There is no way to prevent or cure seborrheic dermatitis. However, it can be controlled with treatment.
It's already pretty much cleared up right now but I'll do as Resa did, and get a prescription for Diflucan. Funny thing is, whenever I watched those Diflucan commercials, I shook my head because who in their right mind would use a pill when there's an effective topical cream!
Maybe this medicine is not superflous at all, if it tackles the yeast from the inside out.
I believe there is a potential huge market for Diflucan, because I can see from my website statistics that hundreds of people every day are looking for information on swollen eyelids.
From other e-mails I received, it looks like a lot of people are desperated because they can't figure it out. Looks like even in the medical community, there is a bit confusion about the yeast that causes this. Well, at least we know it's a yeast, and this explains too why the condition would get worse when it rained. (Humidity and less sunlight?)
***
I mentioned in an earlier entry how Preparation-H on my eyelids improved the condition. Well, in the meantime I read that regular use of Hydrocortisone leads to thinning of the skin, so I stopped using it. Hopefully, a lot of people who read my earlier entries on swollen eyelids will continue their research and find the cause just like I did, instead of continuing to treat the symptoms. Yes it's an allergy and a skin condition, but even though allergy medicine and skin treatment helps, it's best to tackle the yeast that causes the problem (seborrheic dermatitis) in the first place.
8:47:42 AM 
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