Gunky eyes?

A few weeks ago I got a stye on my left eye.  It got better and then another one came and then that got better again.. That's when the problems started... First of all at the base of my left eye lid where my eyelashes begin my skin started peeling and it would come off in little chunks.  I have to take tweezers and manipulate the little pieces of dry skin out if my eyelids if i don't want to have essentially dry skin very noticeably on my eyes. (Terrible sentence, sorry)  While doing this some of my eyelashes come out with it, but not to the point where I would be super concerned.  My eye also has kind of a light redness at the base of the upper lid.  

But there's more. At night when I get tired my left eye gets REALLY scratchy.  Not itchy, just scratchy and red.  I've already taken my contacts off at this point, so I know it's not the contacts.  I then go to bed and when I wake up in the morning its difficult to open that eye because it's so scratchy.  When I finally open it there is this thin film (it's like kind of a cream color) over it and I have to literally take it out with my fingers (after washing hands of course).  My eye also is wet, making the whole skin thing even MORE difficult to deal with.

A few mornings I've even woken up to have BOTH my eyes feel overly water and have stuff all in them.  The left eye is by far the worse though.  I'm at my wits end.  I've researched this online time and time again and all I find is stuff about babies and animals.  At one point for a month i stopped wearing my contacts because I thought they were the root of my problems, but that didn't help.  Going to the Dr. also isn't an option.

What is wrong with my eye(s) and how can I fix it!?  (I NEVER have worn my contacts overnight and typically take them out a couple of hours before I go to bed.  I also occasionally will wear my glasses instead of contacts.)  Other info: I am in my early 20s, very healthy, have worn contacts for about 6 years without problems.

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

You probably have blepharitis due to a staph infection.  You need to see an EyeMD.  This needs to be treated with lid hygiene and antibiotics.  Stop your contacts until this is under control.

Dr. O.