Blepharitis is a common and treatable inflammation of the inner rim of the eyelid, usually affecting both eyes. Irritation, itching, burning, excessive tears, and crusty debris or skin flakes around the eyelashes may occur. You may also have redness around the eyes and missing eyelashes. Common causes are bacterial eyelid infections, meibomian gland dysfunction, dry eyes, fungal eyelid infections, and parasites. Blepharitis can be a recurrent or chronic problem, and patients often have other associated skin conditions, such as rosacea and dandruff. Blepharitis is not contagious.

A stye is a tiny painful lump caused by bacteria, commonly Staphylococcus aureus, which resides on the skin and can enter the oil glands in the eyelids through small openings or breaks. Factors contributing to the development of styes include poor eyelid hygiene, touching the eyes with unwashed hands, and using expired or contaminated eye makeup. It can look like a little pimple – red or with a white/yellow center and can cause lots of red inflammation and swelling around it. It may cause your eyes to water, but it should not affect your vision. It does not usually require treatment and gets better on its own after a week or two. You can relieve the pain and swelling with a cool washcloth, and you can keep the area clean and encourage any discharge out with a warm compress – soak a washcloth with warm water and press against the eye for 5 minutes three or four times a day.

Xanthelasma are fat deposits around the eyes, usually found near the inner corner of the eye and the inner upper eyelid. They tend to look slightly paler than the person's skin tone, and the lumps can vary in size. They are harmless themselves, but can represent a high level of cholesterol (a type of fat) in the body, although this is not always the case. Higher levels of cholesterol in the body can increase your risk of heart problems. They do not need to be removed from around the eyes but can be removed for cosmetic reasons by a variety of methods, such as excision, laser, chemical, or freezing.

A cataract is when part of the eye called the lens, which is normally clear, becomes cloudy and affects your vision. It tends to affect older people – up to half of people in the US will have been affected by cataracts by the time they are 80. There are other rarer types of cataracts, such as congenital cataracts, that develop from birth, and this is checked at your baby's regular screenings with your doctor. People with a cataract usually complain of blurred vision. As the condition progresses over the years, vision can worsen, colors look less vibrant, spots appear in their vision, halos appear around lights, lights seem too bright, and they have difficulty seeing in poor light or at night. Pain isn't usually a symptom. Cataract symptoms usually develop slowly over a few years, so people may not notice at first, but it will be picked up at a routine eye test.

Conjunctivitis is an infection of the eye by either a virus or bacteria. The conjunctiva is the pink rim that you can see if you pull down your lower lid, and it extends onto the white of your eye. It’s an area that often gets infected in children and is usually linked to a common viral cold. Children may get a bacterial infection on its own, usually starting in one eye then spreading. Conjunctivitis has a number of possible symptoms, but one eye normally starts to become affected before the other. The eye looks red and swollen and this redness extends onto the eyelids as well as the white of the eye. There is often a discharge (sometimes greenish in color) around the eyelids and this is worse on waking – the eyes may seem to be ‘stuck down’ with matter. Itching and pain on rubbing the eyes is also common, with sufferers often saying their eyes feel ‘gritty’, and occasionally bright light may make all these symptoms worse. Allergic conjunctivitis is in response to an allergen – commonly pollen alongside other hay fever symptoms – but also any face creams, hair dyes, nail varnish, pet dander or anything in the environment that your eyes have become sensitive to. The eyes are usually profusely watery, puffy around them and they may feel a bit gritty. You may also get a runny nose or hives on other parts of the body. Treatment may help, such as antihistamine eye drops or tablets, but it’s usually mild and improves on its own within a day or two – quicker if you remove the suspected allergen.