Eye Discomfort

[vheissu]

Hey Doc,

About a day and a half ago one of my eyes was getting really irritated, like there was something stuck in it. I found out that the stuff that was "stuck" in my eye was some sort of discharge. I slept on it, then woke up and the underpart of my eye was noticeably swollen, and tender when I touch it. There is also some sort of infection looking thing on the inside of my eye as well. That was a day ago and although it hasn't gotten any worse, it is still swollen and tender. My vision hasn't changed, and my actual eyeball isn't affected at all as far I can tell.

Basically I'm deciding if I should go to the Eye Doctor or not, my health insurance from work hasn't kicked in yet and I'm not looking forward to spending the fee for the office visit. I'm thinking it might be pink eye?

[My Flight Surgeon]

Try some artificial tears every 4 hours for a day or so. You can use generic or get Visine, make no difference. It is probably a viral infection. If the vision gets blurry of the eye turns red, you should be seen.

[vheissu]

After looking more into it, I think it might be a stye. Is it possible for one to form inside of the bottom of your eyelid?

[My Flight Surgeon]

Actually, that sounds like a chalazion or an infected gland in the eyelid. You can treat it with local heat. If it does not get better in a week or so, then you might want to see the eye doc. They usually have to lance those if they don't go away.