Ok guys, I ended up going to an opthomologist to get my eyes checked out.
Turns out I have a condition called blepharitis. Google it. Basically, people who have rosacea and seborrheic dermatitis (which is basically dandruff, but can be more severe) are likely to get it, but it's also very common. It causes a gritty sensation in the eye and can lead to conjunctiva and eye puffiness.
What happens is that dead skin cells (from the seborrhea or excema) fall from your scalp (or wherever) and get lodged in the base of your eyelashes. The dead skin cells, together with over-active sebaceous (oil) glands make a breeding ground for bacteria. So you end up with bacteria inflaming the eye and the eyelids.
Treatment involves warm compresses to loosen the debris in the eyelashes, cotton balls soaked in a mixture of water and baby shampoo to get rid of the debris and cleanse the eye of the infection, and sometimes a topical gel to be applied to the inner eyelid (as in my case). Also, artificial tears may be prescribed.
It can't be cured, but I'm told it can be treated. Unfortunately it may be up to 8 months or a year before treatment starts really working, but I'm keeping at it.
My opthomologist didn't really stress trying to treat the seborreic dermatitis (which from what I read is one of the main underlying causes). I'm not sure why, as obviously you'd have to worry about cleaning your eyes less if you can prevent sh!t from falling near them in the first place. So I'm working on that with Neutrogena T-Gel shampoo and Luxiq scalp cream.
I've tried both the eye treatments and the scalp treatments separately, but never in combination. So hopefully I will stem the influx of flakes and simultaneously keep my eye clean.
On the upside of things, the actual white of my eyes has gotten pretty clear. However, the lids still get inflamed and puffy and I still have a gritty sensation in them.
I'll report back if I see some results from this treatment program.
