rash around eyes?

[rasheyes]

  hello everyone--it's great to have discovered this site...i'm wondering if anyone can offer some insight here...for the past few weeks i've had a rash that seems to alternately flare and lessen under and around my eyes. usually, it seems worst in the mornings when i get up--. throughout the course of the day it goes away a bit, but that depends on how bad it started out in the morning. it seems the rash has gotten more consistent now--like now i seem to wake up with it every day. anyway, it looks like small red blotches--clusters of red bumps. some mornings the bumps are very red. i only get it under my eyes and on the sides of my eyes. it's not on my eyelids at all. sometimes it itches a bit, sometimes it feels like a scrape. it always looks bad...i've tried not using my moisturizer (i've been using the same scentless, all-natural product for a couple years now), not wearing eyeliner or mascara, washing my face with only water...but, the rash seems to be getting more and more an everyday thing. i'm working on an appt with the dermatologist now--but--in the meantime, anyone have any insights here? your thoughts are much appreciated!

[Val]

Rasheyes,

Welcome to our SkinCell cyber family.

Sorry to hear you're having this problem around your eye's.

To be honest I really don't have a clue what it could be, except maybe an allergy to something you're coming in contact with.

Knowing it can often take a few weeks (or longer), depending on where you are in the world to see a derm. Have you thought about seeing a GP or General Doctor?  They don't know as much about skin problems as a derm, but should be able to help you find something to ease the problem until you get to a derm.

Hopefully someone else here will be of more help to you, than I'm being.

Hope to see you posting all around the forum soon, and please do keep us updated on how you get on with the doc or derm.

Val

[Gobe]

 

Welcome to Skincell Rasheyes!

I suffer from allergic conjunctivits and use anti allergy eyedrops all year round.

Do you also have a yellowish discharge or crusting in your eyes in the morning?  Do your eyes water a lot.  If so this can easily cauase the red blothces under your eyes.  I get those when the pollen count is really high when my eye water a lot even despite using the eye drops.  Are the whites of your eyes red or pinker than usual?  If so this could also indiciate pink eye or conjunctivitis.

[Bri9801]

Hi RashEyes

Welcome to the forum

[GuzziHeroV50]

Welcome to the forum, RashEyes...i hope you find a solution pronto!

[rasheyes]

thanks for your thoughtful replies--to answer, briefly...i don't have symptoms of conjunctivitis or pink eye...it really seems like my eyes aren't affected much at all by this rash, but for some reason it only appears around my eyes. weird!  ???it does sometimes itch, and sometimes it hurts like overly dry, scratched skin. the bumps are raised and red. i'm going to make a dr's appt and see how that goes...again, thanks so much--i'll try to follow up with further info!

[deirdre]

Is it very close to the eyes? If it is close it might be something called blepharitis. I would suggest that you see either a dermatologist or an ophthamologist. The latter if there is any pain in the eye at all. Don't mess with the eyes... and don't hesitate to use te word pain when booking yur appointment, so long as it is not an exaggeration, as it will get you seen much nore promptly.

Best of luck!

 

[lurker]

rasheyes,

  I think Deirdre may be on to something in her post there...  

  I thought it might be an allergic reaction as well, so I would suggest you keep very good track of what exactly touches that area at any time during the day, but particularly at night before bed as you said you wake up with the redness.  At one point what you described kinda happened to me, but it turned out I was rubbing my eyes at night while I slept.   I am not sure that is what is going on with you but like I said, it might be worth taking note of exactly what touches that area and when.  That way you might be able to find the culprit.

  Welcome to SkinCell!

  - lurker

[kneecapper]

I have a longshot question for you. Do you drink soda or eat diet food? If you do, perhaps you could eliminate all food and drink that contains aspartame and see if that makes a difference to the area around your eyes.



Maggie

[rasheyes]

i do drink diet sodas...i'll look into that one, thanks! in the meantime, i went to the derm yesterday. it was somewhat frustrating because--wouldn't you know it--yesterday seemed to be the mildest rash day in two weeks! still, i had patchy bits of it, but not all the tiny red spots i usually get, too. so anyway--the derm said that the patchy parts of it made it look like a kind of under-eye eczema (sp?). she said people usually get it on their eyelids. i told her i never get it on my eyelids...she said, "and since you get it on your eyelids, that's probably what it is".   I mentioned that i also get all these tiny red spots with it--and asked her what that could be--. she suggested something with a long name as a possibility, but said that for now she just had to treat what she saw--and it looked like eczema yesterday. regardless, if it doesn't go away with the cream she gave me, she wants me to go to nyu for some kind of patch testing that will test my skin on possible allergents that my eyes would likely come into contact with. so for now--cortizone cream, elidel, and wait and see. thanks again for all your thoughtful advice--!

[lurker]

Sorry to hear there is more confusion there, rasheyes

I like that quote from the doc there

I have found great initial success with Elidel and I hope that it works for you.  The cortizone is also a good product but my preference is to use the non-steroid products, particularly on the face and eye area.  As an eczema sufferer for so long I use what I feel works for me.

Patch testing?  That's going to be interesting.  You may want to prepare by coming up with a list of products/substances that you use that comes in contact with your eye area, and hopefully they will incorporate that list into the testing.

Good luck and keep us informed!

 - lurker

[kneecapper]

Hi Rasheyes,

might I caution you about use of cortisone around your eyes. Please use it very sparingly, make sure that the layer is ultra thin.

Long term use of cortisone on the face can cause problems including skin thinning. I have been given permission to use Novasone but only on the outer edge of my face near the scalp line. It did such an excellent job that I only had to use it once and my skin cleared.

It does not sound like the derm was listening to you very well either and that does not help. I would suggest that you look carefully at your consumption of diet soda because a rash like you are describing can be a side effect of having too much aspartame.

Maggie

[Karen F]

 

Hi Rasheyes and welcome!

[LOOPS]

hIYA -

I'm new here also, and guess what??  I have EXACTLY the same problem you have right now.

How weird?  I have eczema generally (not too serious at present but threatening to really flare up over last couple of weeks), and then a couple of weeks ago noticed I was getting this weird rash just under and around corners of my eyes.  Unlike any other eczema I have in that is not itchy, just comes up in bumps, sometimes hurts just slightly, goes down, comes up etc.  Never had anything like this before.

Do you eat a lot of grapes?  It's just I've been eating lots of grapes as are in season here, and I reckon that if you don't wash them properly there is something on them that is giving me this unusual reaction.  As I say I have eczema anyway, it's only recently this has come up.  I DON'T WANT TO GIVE UP GRAPES I love em!

If it's not a cream you're using (or you may have even started being allergic to the cream you WERE using), it must be something internal?

Hmm.  Maybe we are just both allergic to some outerspace radio signal that noone else can tune into!

Loops

[kneecapper]

Hi Loops

welcome to Skincell.

So you are eating grapes. What about diet sodas and other food that might use aspartame?  It might not be the grapes after all?  

Is it possible that you are having a reaction to something in the air?

Maggie

[Tiny_Mo]

  RashEyes

Wellcome to skinCell

[Celery Peach]

Welcome to Skincell Rasheyes & Loops  

[Nick]

Hiya LOOPS

Welcome to SkinCell

I have been doing a spot of research on this and it would appear that people can develope a dependancy on cortisone around the eyes (where the skin is very thin indeed) that can cause this sort of effect.

If you are already diagnosed with Eczema there's a chance that the rash could be a secondary infection as many Eczema sufferers have a greater chance of developing secondary skin infections.

Just out of interest, do you wear glasses or contacts ?

[LOOPS]

Helloo -    

no, I don't wear contacts or glasses.  I don't drink diet sodas very often either, but I did the other night.  I don't use cortisone round my eyes either, as thankfully the previous eczema I had all round my eyelids and face has gone (now live by the sea).

But, arrrggghgh, eczema is now starting to get worse again!  Have cut out just about all detergents from my life in a last attempt to stop it spreading (yeah, but NOT SHAMPOO - can't live without this) but doesn't seem to make much difference.

Oops off course here.  Sorry Rasheyes  I know this is your thread.   Um, well, I eat really healthily and eat lots of fish, so I'm getting all me oils.  Just one of those 'weird' unexplained things I guess.  Right now I'm more worried about the itchy eczema I have as it is impossible to control right now and I am really trying to not use my cortisone cream as it doesn't really do anything for it in the long run.

Loops

[lurker]

loops,

  Welcome to SkinCell

   I would like to ask you why you feel that living by the sea has helped your eczema... Do you swim in the seawater?  Do you think it's the ocean wind?  The air quality?

   Are you sure the shampoo is not a culprit?  Perhaps switching to another shampoo might be a good idea?

   I have eczema as well and I have found Elidel and Protopic to be excellent non-steroid topicals.   Perhaps you should talk to your dermatologist about these new medications.

 - lurker