Free guide · Scarlet Beast En español →
Blepharitis: the signs, the causes, cleaning your eyelids, other problems it can cause, and treatment
For someone whose eyelids are red, itchy, swollen or crusty when they wake up; for someone told they have blepharitis and wondering how to clean their eyelids; for someone with dandruff, rosacea or oily skin; and for someone who keeps getting a stye or a chalazion. The National Eye Institute (NEI, part of the NIH) says blepharitis is a common eye condition that isn’t contagious and usually doesn’t cause lasting damage, and that the main treatment is cleaning your eyelids every day. This page passes on, by name, what NEI says: the signs, who gets it, the causes and the 2 types, what else it can lead to, NEI’s eyelid cleaning steps, and other treatment. It builds the words to say to the eye doctor, and prints a card to keep.
Right now
- Sudden loss of sight, bad eye pain, or a chemical, a speck or a hit to the eye? That is not blepharitis care. Ours: go to an emergency room, or call 911 in an emergency, and don’t drive yourself if your sight is affected. A hurt eye: the eye injury page.
- Blurry vision, eyelashes falling out or growing the wrong way? NEI names these as more serious problems blepharitis can cause. Ours: see an eye doctor soon.
- Can’t afford an eye exam? The eye care page lists free and low-cost programs (ours). Thoughts of suicide? Call or text 988, any hour (ours).
More help
- Linked to it, on this site: Eyes and sight: find the right page · Dry eye · Rosacea · An eye injury.
- Care and costs: Eye care you can afford · When you need a doctor and can’t pay · Get ready for your appointment.
- In a crisis: Help right now (988, 911). All our free tools.
Your eyes or your sight, and not sure this is the right page? The pages on this site for a hurt or pink eye, glaucoma, cataracts, diabetes and the eyes, macular degeneration, a detached retina, dry eye, fading sight and eye care you can afford, on one list.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor or nurse has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 16, 2026 on one National Eye Institute (NIH) page: Blepharitis (last updated December 4, 2024). NEI gives baby shampoo as an example of a gentle cleanser; we pass that on as NEI’s example. Ours: that sudden loss of sight, bad eye pain, or a chemical or a hit to the eye is an emergency room or 911, not blepharitis care; not driving yourself when your sight is affected; the eye injury page; 988 for thoughts of suicide; seeing an eye doctor soon for the more serious problems; warm, not hot; asking how often and for how long to clean; not stopping or changing a prescribed medicine on your own; telling the eye doctor about dandruff, rosacea, oily skin or allergies; what to bring; the questions to ask; low-cost eye exams; and the order of the steps. What we left out: NEI’s research news. This page saves nothing and loads no trackers.