Do I really need an ophthalmologist right away?

 

 

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 05/07/2015 - 16:36
Country
United States
Age
47
Gender
Male
Did you perform any surgery for the eyes?
No
Do you suffer from pre-existing illnesses in the eye?
No
Do you suffer from any diseases in the body?

Diabetes, High blood pressure, both controlled

Do you use any eye drops?
No
Do you wear Contact lenses or Eyeglasses?

I've worn glasses since I was about 12

Question

 

 

Hi,

I had a pretty bad case of pink eye last week, started on Sun April 29th, and by Weds May 2 was quite severe and my vision was blurry, couldn't read, couldn't stand light. By Friday it had greatly improved, the scratchy feeling was mostly gone, pain was mostly gone, light sensitivity gone, but still had blurry vision and couldn't read clearly.

Went to an optometrist on Saturday who said I had a corneal abrasion, some corneal swelling, and some irritation that he didn't know what to think of since he didn't deal with that much. He said that is why I couldn't read clearly.

He suggested I go see an eye specialist today if my vision hadn't greatly improved. He did give me some anti bacterial drops as a preventative measure to keep it from becoming infected.

This is where I am confused. Today I can read my screen with both eyes open which is definitely an improvement. My eye has been kind of itchy, so maybe that indicates healing?

 

 

If I close my good eye the vision for reading is still significantly blurry, but I can read words and if I move my eye it will clear up just a bit. On Saturday I couldn't read out of the effected eye at all.

I am wondering if it's safe to go ahead and wait another couple days and see if this resolves on it's own or am I in danger of causing more damage? I have to pay out of pocket and I'm basically being told it will cost me $150 to $200 to see an ophthalmologist which I can ill afford if this is just going to heal on it's own and I'm in no real danger of losing sight here or causing more damage.

Thanks

 

Answer

Thanks for your Question

 

 

Most likely you had adenovirus conjunctivitis which cause red eye, foreign body sensation and excessive lacrimation. Some case of keratitis or corneal infiltration from the virus can occur that cause blurred vision.

It is self limited disease that should be gone by itself. Keratitis usually resolve late and it takes time, around 4 weeks but sometimes and under the supervision of your eye doctor, prednisolone eye drops can be use to treat viral corneal infiltration.

It seems your vision is getting worse with time so you must go to eye doctor for full examination and in case there are causes other than viral infection such as uveitis ( intraocular inflammation) or high intraocular pressure.