Dry, veiny, itchy eyes

Hello,
I have the problem that I can see the veins in my eyes, they are dry, sometimes itchy, very sensitive and have this puss building up in the corner.
I have seen several doctors about this over quite a long time. Some of them said its nothing, which was not helpful at all, one of them prescribed me artificial tears and antibiotics. This only made it worse. Another said I should wash my eyelids with baby shampoo to keep them clean, which again, only irritated them more. The last one I went to see gave me steroid eye drops, that didn't really do anything either.
Now I'm not insured at the moment so I was wondering if there is something I can do in the meantime until I get my insurance back.
I should mention that I used to wear contact lenses when this started but stopped wearing them completely!

Thank you!

[Houman Vosoghi, MD]

Hard to know exactly what the source of your problem is without an exam.  Could be dry eyes, meibomian gland dysfunction, pterygium, or blepharitis.  Follow the list below.  This is the best advice I can offer in the absence of prescription medications.  Also, try and wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from sun exposure (in case you have pterygia).  It seems you've tried some of these already but I'll give you the whole list in order of my preference anyway.

   Warm compresses to both eyelids once a day for 5-10 minutes followed by scrubbing your eyelashes.  Since baby shampoo irritated your eyes, you should use commercially available lid scrub which is available at any pharmacy.  In addition to this use over the counter artificial tears 2-3 times a day or as needed.  You should also increase your intake of Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil, flax seed, etc) to better normalize the oil layer of the tear film.  If these steps, after daily use for a few weeks, don't help, you may need to reconsult with an ophthalmologist for a different prescription than what you've already tried.

HV