OT: Opinion on eye discomfort

asquithea

Entirely OT, but looking for some reassurance or otherwise. I'm booked in to see my optician on Monday.

I'm having some discomfort in one eye - it feels slightly swollen, and it got progressively more bloodshot during the day. The pupils appear to be unequal; the scary eye's pupil shrinks as normal, but doesn't dilate as much as the other eye. I don't have halos or blurred vision, and so far the pupil looks round rather than oval. I wear contacts (monthly lenses, but freshly changed this week), and I've had a little redness and discomfort since before the Easter break (so over two sets of lenses). Wearing glasses over the long Easter weekend didn't get rid of the redness.

Scary eye: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/11/dsc0023hk.jpg/
Normal eye: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/834/dsc0024zg.jpg/

Needless to say, Internet searches bring up scary stuff like Acute Closed-angle Glaucoma, which apparently can lead to blindness rather quickly, but as always with these things, it's easy to talk yourself into thinking you have some of the symptoms, and I don't fit the age profile (I'm 30).

Anyone happen to be an ophthalmologist? Should I be alarmed enough to camp out in my opticians tomorrow, or can it wait until Monday?

veronese68

It's been a week already if you wore glasses over Easter, you'll be fine until Monday. If you don't sleep tonight because you are worrying, then go tomorrow for your peace of mind, but not because you're going blind.

sketchley

Few years back I got iritis http://www.eyehelp.co.uk/iritis-explained.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iritis , looks similar but really hurt a lot. Go see the doctor or eye clinic at a and e.

asquithea

Thanks for the advice, both of you.

I reckon I'll see how it is tomorrow. If it actually hurts (it doesn't really at the moment), I'll head over the A&E; otherwise, I'm probably better going to see the ophthalmologist at my normal optician, where they've got the benefit of my eye and contact lens check results from the tail end of last year.

SimonAH

Have you been half bitten by a werewolf? As in a 'bit nibbled on one side of the body' ? I would prescribe half a silver pessary, splashing your face with a 50/50 blend of evian and holy water, and keeping a razor handy when the moon changes.

rjsterry

If you are anywhere Old Street roundabout in London, then you can pop into Moorfields Eye Hospital A&E. If not then that's not much use. Um... yeah.

Twostage

I find your non-scary eye to be the most disturbing :shock:

davis

Doesn't look or sound too bad to me. If you get vision problems or it starts really hurting then I'd trouble the medical profession, otherwise I wouldn't bother.

You have checked for grit/other schmutter, right?

Either way, isn't this what your mum said would happen if you didn't leave it alone?

asquithea

Now I have an eye as my avatar (o)

It's bad enough that I was getting comments from colleagues. I looked carefully for grit, lashes etc, but nothing's there, so I reckon there might be a bit of infection or something. I guess I'll find out on Monday.

cyclingprop

You know you can get over the counter drops for pink eye

jonny_trousers

Searching for medical advice on the internet is a terrible idea (I do it myself all the time). Inevitably you are going to find people with conditions similar to your own who have been diagnosed with something horrendous and then you end up panicking for days until you can see a doctor who ends up telling you not to be a big girl.

If you wear contacts then an irritation/mild infection is surely likely, but what the hell do I know? Just wait to see your doctor and in the short term, have fun scaring small children.

First.Aspect

Some activities do cause blindness. Are you short as well? If so, I would say you should cut down a bit.