Dry, flaky, itchy, and inflamed eyelids?

[Amber Joy]

For at least 2 1/2 months now both my eyelids and one of my undereye areas have been incredibly irritated. At first they were just dry, and I'm prone to dry skin so I didn't think much of it. Then they became itchy and flaky. Now the spots on my eyelids and undereye that are dry/itchy are also bright red, although they are not swollen, only puffy on very rare occasions. I've tried everything!!! I've ceased using makeup to rule out allergies and nothing has changed. My opthamologist thought it was my contact solution because my actual eye was getting red all the time too. When I changed my solution the redness in my eye cleared up but the eyelid situation remained the same. Many suggested scrubbing the eye with baby shampoo, and I've been doing that for weeks with no results. I've also been trying aloe vera and vaseline, which usually takes care of the dryness and flakes for a little while, but does nothing at all for the redness or itch. The only thing that seems to do anything at all is cortisone ointment, which I read is actually horrible to put on your eye, even though it relieves all the symptoms phenomenally better than any other remedy, but I use it very seldom because I'm scared that it will cause more serious problems. Many have suggested blepharitis or dermatitis but I really don't think this is the case. Does anyone have any idea what else this might be and/or how to remedy it?