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For about a week now I've been having problems with my right eye. I wake up in the morning, and the upper eyelid is puffy and swollen, making it need noticeably more effort to open than the left eye.

At first I thought it was just allergies. This seemed to bear out when I increased my frequency of hand and face washing over the course of the first day or two, and the swelling went down. However, after the swelling goes down over the course of a day, it swells back up at night while I am asleep, so that when I awake again in the morning, it is more difficult to open again.

There is no pain, although there was on the first day and on the night before the first day it became swollen. Also, I have washed and changed my bedsheets, and even slept on the couch a couple nights as an experiment, and it has not made a difference - the swelling has returned each morning, to go down again within 4 to 6 hours of waking up and becoming active. The eye itself under the lid is not irritated or red.

The fact that it only is happening to the right eye makes me think it is not just allergies, or a problem with my bedding - I have intentionally slept on my back or even on my left side, so that my left eye was in contact with my pillowcase, to see if that made it "spread." It has not, my left eye is still unaffected. The pain on the first day and earlier makes me suspect an infection or blockage, though the pain went away within 2 days but the swelling continues to return. Most of what I read online tells me a stye would have a pimple-like "head" at some point, and that hasn't shown up.

Anybody got insights into this? I haven't had pinkeye (conjunctivitis) since I was in middle school, and I've never had a stye, so I don't know the experience to identify it positively. If it's just something that will clear itself up, I don't want to waste time going to the doctor when I'm super busy getting ready for my vacation that starts this weekend... but if it's an infection, I wanna go get something for it.

Go to the doctor.

Eyesight really isn't something you wanna mess with. See a doctor.

Dei said:

Go to the doctor.

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Gared said:

Eyesight really isn't something you wanna mess with. See a doctor.

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What, you guys don't think I can drive 1200 miles with an eye potentially swollen shut?

GasBandit said:

What, you guys don't think I can drive 1200 miles with an eye potentially swollen shut?

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Can? Maybe. Should? No.

Don't forget about blepharitis.

Though I'm really hoping it's not a surplus of Demodex.

--Patrick

PatrThom said:

Don't forget about blepharitis.

Though I'm really hoping it's not a surplus of Demodex.

--Patrick

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No, I don't think it is blepharitis, the swelling is higher up on the eyelid, and also spreads to the right side of the bridge of my nose.

At any rate, I'll get up early tomorrow, and if it's swollen up again, I'll go into the clinic before work.

GasBandit said:

also spreads to the right side of the bridge of my nose.

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If it's also spreading to your nose, then I'd have your tear duct checked out. I mean...sure, there's the possibility that bees are sneaking in to steal your tears, but that's kinda unlikely.

--Patrick

It could be early iritis or uveitis. It’s an inflammatory condition of the eye, usually caused by an autoimmune condition, but not always and can be tested for at an eye doctor’s office with a slit lamp. They need that to look for the cells.

Is the swelling mild or severe? Is there any redness only in that eye? Do you have a headache? Do you have any light sensitivity? Do you have eye pain or discomfort in the one eye?

Some cases can be mild and over time can turn into intense bouts. Other times they start wild.

It’s treated with steroid drops and sometimes dilation in the one eye.

It totally could be something else, but it’s worth looking into as a non-infectious source of a single eye illness that hasn’t spread to your other eye and doesn’t act like an allergy.

It’s not contagious.

Squidleybits said:

It could be early iritis or uveitis. It’s an inflammatory condition of the eye, usually caused by an autoimmune condition, but not always and can be tested for at an eye doctor’s office with a slit lamp. They need that to look for the cells.

Is the swelling mild or severe? Is there any redness only in that eye? Do you have a headache? Do you have any light sensitivity? Do you have eye pain or discomfort in the one eye?

Some cases can be mild and over time can turn into intense bouts. Other times they start wild.

It’s treated with steroid drops and sometimes dilation in the one eye.

It totally could be something else, but it’s worth looking into as a non-infectious source of a single eye illness that hasn’t spread to your other eye and doesn’t act like an allergy.

It’s not contagious.

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Mild swelling, no redness at all. It hurt the first day or so, like a bruise, but the pain went away and hasn't been present ever since. No light sensitivity. Eyes are a little dry, but that's a chronic condition ever since I got LASIK done.

I'll go to the doc in the morning.

GasBandit said:

I'll go to the doc in the morning.

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Make sure to let us know if it's the bees.

--Patrick

And of COURSE the morning I resolve to go in to the doc's about it, the symptoms fail to manifest. big to-do and a thread about nothin'.

Well, we'll see if they come back tomorrow. If they do, I'll go in.

GasBandit said:

And of COURSE the morning I resolve to go in to the doc's about it, the symptoms fail to manifest. big to-do and a thread about nothin'.

Well, we'll see if they come back tomorrow. If they do, I'll go in.

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Just think of us as your IT department.

Gared said:

Just think of us as your IT department.

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"Unable to reproduce issue. Ticket closed."

You have a cavity.

Terrik said:

You have a cavity.

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When all you have is a hammer, eh Terrik?

Wouldn't be my first, though.

Or even my sixth.

GasBandit said:

When all you have is a scaler, eh Terrik?

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FTFY

...scraaape scrapescrapescrape SCRAAAPE pick pick pick scraaaaaape...

—Patrick

PatrThom said:

FTFY

...scraaape scrapescrapescrape SCRAAAPE pick pick pick scraaaaaape...

—Patrick

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Is it safe?

DarkAudit said:

Is it safe?

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Is it secret?

Scott Baio gave you pinkeye.
/oldschoolmemes

Tiger Tsang said:

Is it secret?

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These youngsters these days don't remember Marathon Man.

sixpackshaker said:

These youngsters these days don't remember Marathon Man.

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...or else they haven't seen it.

--Patrick

I can't watch that scene.