itchy eyelids

at first, when i felt the pinprick sensations in my one lid, i thought i was merely suffering from sort of allergy. i AM allergic to things like molds, ragweed and the pollens of trees and grasses. so i dosed myself on antihistamines, but the itching didn't stop. i could feel my eyelid becoming more and more irritated, and just a tad swollen. so i smeared it antibiotic ointment, which helped, but not as much as i would've liked, and the itching spread, to my other eye.

a single application of hydrocortisone cream helped tremendously, but burned like the dickens going on. then it occured to me that something in nature's pharmacopiea might offer a better solution. it also occured to me to google the symptom. so i did, and i learned that apparently itchy eyelids is a real symptom of some fairly diverse diseases and conditions. it can also occur for reasons unknown, and some of the postings i found were from people begging for or offering all sorts of advice on how to alleviate this very annoying (believe me) condition.

my dear sister-in-spirit laura mentioned her own homemade brew that is very effective against poison ivy - a simple home remedy based on wild impatiens, or jewel weed, and plaintain, that broad leafed invader of my herb gardens that looks to me like a cross between rhubarb and crab grass, and yet our dear friend rose swears by it.

to freshly cleaned bunch of leaves and stems, i added three tablespoons of olive oil - the googled people mentiond sweet almond oil, but i don't have any - and a few drops of boiling water to kill any beasties that may be lurking in the leaves. three times daily applications of this little concoction, along with warm salt compresses, had me about 95% cured when i gave the rest of it to katie for baby jake's face.

today i woke up with a just a touch of an itchy lid. and it's back to the fields i go.

and furthermore, the war must end. blessed be.