Yesterday, Bobby and I went for his last (hopefully) visit to the eye doctor. The did another eye exam and are making him different glasses. One of the things they wanted was for Bobby to buy some eye pads that heat up and use those on his eyes 1-2 each day, so a 2 week supply was over $45 . He didn’t get them, and when we came home he researched them on Amazon. It turned out that you can buy a reusable eye mask that heats up and does the same thing , and many of them charge with a usb adaptor. The information on Amazon kept mentioning an eye condition called Blepharitis. It sounds AWFUL; so I looked it up, and it is when the oil glands malfunction (which is what the eye doctor was telling Bobby, too), and it causes sticky stuff on the eyelids, and itching, along with several other symptoms. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/blepharitis/symptoms-causes/ Amazon said that it was also good for puffy eyes and dark circles under the eyes, and the heat was just helpful for eyes in general. The end result of this research was that Bobby ordered one of the rechargeable masks and so did I . I like wearing a sleep mask at night anyway (except it is too hot in the summer), and this one has a timer to heat your eyes and then shuts off. It looks like it is something that will be helpful in taking care of our eyes. Amazon has them with all sorts of functions and all prices. I looked at one that heats, massages your eyes, and has built-in WiFi for playing music while you are getting the eye massage. The one I got just does the heat, but has 2 temperature options, and shuts off automatically, in case i fall asleep.
For some reason, I suddenly started getting sties in my eyes. It has become a routine thing. Like blepharitis, sties are caused by clogged oil glands. My eye doctor told me to get Green Tea tea bags, hydrate them in hot water (as hot as I can tolerate), hold them over my eyes to thin out the oils, and to massage them to express the oils. I wrap the tea bags in cheesecloth rather than the recommended washcloth because cheesecloth does not absorb a lot of the moisture, and it's soft against my eye. Another benefit to this is that the green tea contains antioxidants. She also recommended the OASIS Rest & Relief Eye Mask. $20 at Amazon. I told her I bought an eye mask with cups in it to hold the tea bags and she then recommended the OASIS product. I assumed that this would also hold the tea bags, but maybe it's only to use with the encased microwaveable heat beads. I've not bought one. The cheesecloth works good enough, and I want the green tea benefits.