How do I get a cut on my eyelid to heal?

January 8, 2008 5:42 AM

I've had a cut on my left eyelid for about two weeks. It still stings. How do I get it to heal?

No idea how I managed to do this, but I've had a cut - like a paper cut - on the top eyelid of my left eye since before Christmas. It doesn't hurt too much, but it does sting when I close my eyes or when I put water on my face to wash.

It's not bleeding or infected but, for such a shallow cut, it's showing no signs of healing. Trying to close my eyes to sleep is also rather annoying.

Short of taping my eye closed and putting a bandage over it for a couple of days, how do I get it to heal? Considering I'm in the UK, are there any products on sale (like a wound-healing glue) that would help? And are they safe to use around the eyes?

posted by tapeguy to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)

Neosporin or generic triple antibiotic should help. In a foldy place like that you want it to stay moist if possible. My new dog scratched the ever loving hell out of my eye a couple weeks ago, and 4 days of neosporin and it's really pretty much all better. You want just a little bit, not a big smeary mess.

I can't imagine putting anything like newskin or superglue anywhere near your eyes.
posted by TomMelee at 6:08 AM on January 8, 2008

There is a product you could (and possibly still can) buy in the UK called New Skin. Do not, under any circumstances, put it near your eyelid. Someone I know once put some on a cut on a *ahem* sensitive area. I could hear the screams in the next room. It's probably "safe to use". But it's going to hurt like f*ck.

Try just a tiny dab of vaseline?
posted by Solomon at 6:24 AM on January 8, 2008

Given that it might not actually be a cut, but maybe a skin condition, perhaps for example exacerbated by dry winter air, you could consider seeing a dermatologist.
posted by blue_wardrobe at 8:36 AM on January 8, 2008

Lansinoh. Safe enough for babies to eat and powerful enough to heal cracked nipples.
posted by cocoagirl at 10:41 AM on January 8, 2008

Go with the neosporin. I consider it to be a miracle drug.
posted by wsg at 1:05 PM on January 8, 2008

non-healing cuts in folds of skin are often super-infected with yeast due to trapped moisture, so typically a small dab of clotrimazole twice daily for a few days will fix it. It's doubtful neosporin will do anything. See your doctor if it won't heal.
posted by docpops at 1:26 PM on January 8, 2008

Can you use spit or neosporin to stick a piece of tissue (like one corner of one layer of a double ply kleenex) over it? Having a non-moving barrier between the cut and anything that might touch it (including air) prevents stinging for me.
posted by anaelith at 3:04 PM on January 8, 2008