General
Dry eyelids are often very uncomfortable for the person affected, as the skin on the upper lid edge is very thin and sensitive. The dry skin can also cause annoying itching. The causes for the development of dry eyelids can be manifold.
Dry eyelids can be caused by a lack of care. Especially the wrong care product or the wrong cleanser can deprive the skin of moisture. It is important to clean the skin in the evening.
One frees the skin from the everyday dirt and make-up. But the daily use of soap can quickly dry out and irritate the skin, especially on the sensitive eyelid margins. Therefore it is very important to care for the skin with a moisturizing cream afterwards.
Furthermore, dry eyelids are caused by too much friction. Frequently, the eyes are rubbed several times when one is particularly tired. Since the skin around the eye is very sensitive to mechanical irritation, dryness and small wounds can quickly occur.
Allergies to make-up products, skin care products, flowers, grasses or pollen and certain foods can also be a cause of dry eyelids. Long periods of work in front of the PC also put a lot of strain on the eye. The eye is directed towards the screen for hours and the muscles of the eye are stressed very monotonously.
This can lead to the eyes not being sufficiently rinsed with tear fluid and the skin around the eye also becoming too dry. Dry and reddened eyelids also occur particularly frequently in the context of neurodermatitis. This is a general dryness of the skin on the entire body.
It manifests itself particularly frequently in the eye and lip area. With existing neurodermatitis, skin care is particularly important and often requires special care products depending on the extent of the disease. The thyroid gland can sometimes be a possible cause of dry eyelids or dry skin in general.
If the thyroid gland becomes diseased, it usually produces either too much or too little thyroid hormone (so-called thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3)), with both having different effects on the body. The thyroid hormones stimulate the body’s metabolism in a superordinate sense. A deficiency therefore reduces the body’s metabolism, whereas overproduction makes it run at full speed.
An undersupply of thyroid hormones, i.e. an underactive thyroid gland, often results in dry skin, dry hair and brittle nails. Dry skin can therefore also be seen in the area of the eyelids. The eyes themselves can also be dry and thus start to burn, and swelling of the eyelids is also possible.
Neurodermatitis is a chronic skin disease, which is characterized by the fact that skin inflammations of varying severity occur in phases, particularly pronounced at so-called predilection sites, i.e. in preferred skin areas. The cause is probably that the skin of the affected persons is disturbed in its disturbed barrier or protective function (possibly this component is inherited) and the immune system in the skin itself is malfunctioning – the latter means that it reacts on the one hand hypersensitively to non-disease-causing substances in the environment and on the other hand also reacts against the body’s own structures, which means that these are autoimmune processes. Especially in adults, the face, the neck and the sides of the arms and legs (elbows and hollows of the knees) are often most affected.
The skin at neurodermatitis is very dry, reddened, scaly, itchy and irritable. In the face, the mouth area and especially the eye area are affected, so that sometimes very dry eyelids can be noticeable. A characteristic sign of neurodermatitis are the so-called Dennie-Morgan wrinkles, where one or even two eye wrinkles below the lower eyelid are caused by the chronically irritated, overdried skin on the eyelids.
Dry eyelids can occur in the context of an allergy, for example in hypersensitivity reactions to pollen, grasses, trees or ingredients of cosmetics and care products.If they are the expression of an allergic reaction, the eyelids are often not only dry, but also marked by severe itching and/or burning. In addition, the skin of the eyelids is often reddened, swollen, scaly and sensitive to pain. An allergy is a reaction of the immune system to foreign substances that do not actually cause illness, which are erroneously combated with an immune response and inflammatory reaction.
Dry eyelids can also be the result of a reaction or hypersensitivity reaction to certain ingredients of cosmetics used in make-up: Especially the fragrances and preservatives contained in make-up or cosmetics can irritate the sensitive skin in the area of the face and eyes/eyelids and lead to hypersensitivity reactions. These are to be seen as a kind of allergic reaction to the respective product, whereby the immune system recognizes the ingredients as foreign and fights them by means of a more or less strong inflammatory reaction: the consequences can be of varying severity – from dry skin and dry eyelids to inflammatory, red, sometimes burning, itchy skin. Dry eyelids can also be associated with a fungal infection in this area of the body.
If this is the case, it is an infection with a skin fungus, which may also occur in the area of the eyelids, possibly especially in the area of the eyelashes, and may cause a slight skin inflammation. In the area of the eyelashes, the fungus attacks the hair follicles and the hair follicle and spreads from there. The skin of the eyelids is then usually reddish and flaky, rather dry, but from time to time it may also become slightly weeping due to the appearance of small blisters that can burst open.
Accompanying itching is by no means rare. Dry eyelids are often noticeable in the evening or in the morning. Depending on the cause, the upper eyelid may show a roughened skin surface.
Dry skin is also often accompanied by itching and redness. The itching additionally drives the affected person to rub the eye more often, which causes the redness. The thin skin around the eyes is also particularly sensitive and often reacts to mechanical stress with small cracks in the skin and swelling.
If the corners of the eye are affected, this can be accompanied by pain (pain in the corners of the eye). Dry eyelids caused by allergies often show up with a simultaneous swelling and itching. In neurodermatitis patients, the eyes are often strongly affected by the disease.
The upper eyelid is reddened, itches and burns. Smaller open wounds can develop. The skin is wrinkled and scaly.
The dry skin, which eventually rubs against each other on the upper eyelid, can eventually cause slight pain. Dry eyelids often occur together with dry lips, especially in winter, when the skin is exposed to the constant, extreme alternation of cold, humid outside temperatures and the warm, dry inside temperatures. Especially the skin around the eyes and the mouth as well as the nose is very sensitive.
In addition, there are mucous membranes in the immediate vicinity, which react particularly sensitively to temperature fluctuations, fluid loss and dry indoor air (heating air). The skin of the lips is a so-called transition area from the mucous membrane of the mouth to the outer skin of the face. In this area, the protective horny layer is not yet as thick and well developed as that of the “normal” skin of the face, so it is clear that this area is more sensitive to irritation and extreme situations than other parts of the skin.
It is not too rare, especially in winter, for the lips to become chapped and chapped, sometimes even to burst open properly and bleed. When the skin becomes dry, it often appears cracked and flaky, sometimes even the detachment of small scales can be observed correctly. The reason for dandruff in dry skin is the detachment of the uppermost layer of the skin, more precisely the horny layer, which can be supplied with too little or no fluid.
The horny layer of the skin consists of dead skin cells, which in any case are sheared off at regular intervals as part of the skin renewal process.If the skin is excessively dry and there is a lack of fluid in the skin, the skin cells cannot be adequately supplied with nutrients, die faster and the skin as a whole is forced to “replicate” faster and more often. The result is that visible desquamation occurs. Dry skin and dry eyelids with dandruff, however, cannot always be due to simple loss of fluid; sometimes other causes can be behind it, causing the top layer of skin to peel off and fall off.
Inflammatory reactions of any kind, whether allergic, infectious or autoimmune, can affect the skin in such a way that it becomes dry, brittle, cracked and flaky, usually as it heals. Dry eyelids can sometimes be prone to severe itching, depending on the underlying cause and the degree of dryness. Dryness often makes the skin of the eyelids feel tense, which it certainly is, and can sometimes flake and tear easily, both of which can cause itching.
In addition, inflammatory or allergic skin diseases, for example, often have itching as a symptom. Despite itching, scratching in the area of dry eyelids should be avoided as much as possible so that no open skin areas are provoked. These form entry ports for pathogens, so that bacteria, for example, can trigger an additional infection in this area (superinfection).
If the skin of the eyelids is dry, it often appears less firm and elastic. If it loses moisture and becomes brittle, cracked and flaky, the natural skin relief is more visible and wrinkles can become more prominent. Especially in the area of the eyelids, dry skin often makes itself noticeable by the formation of small skin wrinkles around the eye and on the eyelid itself, which were previously less visible or not present at all.
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