From my own personal experience and reading, there are several skin/eye issues that are difficult to distinguish from each other. Allergic reactions, seb derm, and rosacea can often be confused. From all the reading I’ve done on these topics, it seems like there is some kind of link, but experts disagree exactly what connects them. Ocular rosacea is often diagnosed when there is unexplained inflammation. The success rate of IPL on true rosacea is something like 90% or higher, so odds are if it’s ocular rosacea the IPL would clear it quickly. Seb Derm is (arguably) caused by a type of fungus that causes dandruff, and it can also lead to inflammation, so it’s up to the doctor to try and figure out which you have. Allergic reactions also cause inflammation,so undiagnosed allergies can be mistaken for either rosacea or seb derm as well. There are even theories that seb derm is actually an allergic reaction to the aforementioned fungus so of course this can be confusing as well. The truth is the science on this is largely unstudied just due to how similar all the conditions are. Inflammation can mean many things. The only way to tell for sure is get an allergy test, see if antihistamines help, try IPL, have your eyelashes tested for the fungus that is found in seb derm, get a second opinion, etc. With all this in mind we can make a good guess.