Eye Allergies

I had  permanent silicone punctal plugs put in my eys in Dec. 08 and in Jan. 09 my under eye became swollen like a balloon and my eyelids, top and bottom were swollen also.  I went back to my Ophthamologist and gave me a good examination and many tests and said it was eye allergies and had nothing to do with the plugs.  This continued on and off for about 4 months and he kept reassuring me it was allergies along with my dry eyes.  Finally with all the different steroid drops I was given I feared damage to my optic nerve so I went to an allergist who gave me several tests to see if I was allergic to animal dander, dust mites, seasonal etc.  She asked me to come back the following week and since it showed nothing she performed the tests again with a stronger dose.  Nothing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I went back to my eye specialist and told him to remove my silicone plugs which he did and again reassured me it was not them but allergies.  It is now almost 7 months later and they still are swollen most of the time.  I put ice on them which he said to do and decided on my own to use Zyrtec D.  I don't know what or who to see next.  I wear extra dark sunglasses because of the way they look.  Please if anyone has any idea let me know.  I asked if they had a test for silicone and my allergist said no.  I thought maybe that was it since I was fine until they were put in my tear ducts.
Pleaseeeeeee HELP

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Thanks for writing to the forum!
There is a possibility that you have a blocked tear duct. It could have been missed because normally a blocked tear duct produces excessive tears. In your case it’s possible that excessive dry eyes did not produce this symptom. Hence this could have been missed. If the duct gets infected it causes swelling and inflammation. Please discuss this with the ophthalmologist as allergy has been ruled out in your case. Also get your eye pressure checked. Even if it was done earlier, there is no harm in repeating.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!

[set2001]

Although there is no cure for eye allergies you should try Claritin Eye Drops and compliment them with an allergy tablet. It worked wonders for me.

Steve

[set2001]

Although there is no cure for eye allergies you should try Claritin Eye Drops and compliment them with an allergy tablet. It worked wonders for me.

Steve