Redness and Swelling around left eye area

[jluth2010]

For the past month, I have had this bizarre area of redness and some swelling around my left eye. It starts right below the eye bag area and extends up towards my temple. It was extremely swollen and red when it first began, so I went to an emergicare and like me they made the assumption it was an allergic reaction to something. I was then prescribed Atarax for 10 days and Prednisone 40 mg for 2 days, 30 mg for 2 days, 20 mg for 2 days, and 10 mg for 2 days. It helped some, but the redness and swelling persisted.

I then went to a dermatologist who prescribed Loquid cream, he did an ANA blood test (came back negative), a fungal test (also negative). The Loquid didn;t work so he gave me a Kenalog-40 injection in my hip, desonide ointment, and amoxicillin. None of this worked either, so he gave me mehtylprednisolone for 6 days again with no real improvement.  

I'm at a loss of what to do here. My girlfriend thinks I have rosacea, but I don't think so.

What is this? I feel like I've hit a wall with all of my current doctors. Should I go to a hospital?

By the way, I'm 28 with mild, intermittent acne, so my first suspicion was that it was a cyst of some sort, but al of the doctors denied that.  

[Gaurang Krishna, MD]

Dear jluth2010,

It’s good that you are seeing a dermatologist personally. From the description you provide, I do think it might be urticarial vasculitis. This condition can be triggered due to many factors, the most common of which are drugs like penicillin, non steroid based anti inflammation drugs and several other prescription medications.  It can also be caused due to certain viral and rheumatic diseases. If you have just had a bout of any viral infection then you should certainly rule out urticarial vasculitis.

It would be best to seek medical advice from a dermatologist as you are doing before you take further medications to cure your condition.

Hope that this information helps and hope that you will get better soon.

Thank you for using MedHelp's "Ask an Expert" Service, where we feature some of world's renowned medical experts in their fields. Millions have benefitted from our service to get personalized advice for them and for their loved ones.

Best Regards.
Dr. Gaurang Krishna

[jluth2010]

Hi,

It isn't itchy at all or too painful. The best way to describe how it feels is slightly swollen as though someone punched me in the face or something. No other symptoms either .

I looked up the two conditions you describe and they don't quite seem to be what I have going on here.I did recently move when this all started, which is what led the doctors to believe it was an allergy, but this could be incidental. A  month long reaction would be pretty rare, right?

Thanks for your help. I'm seeing the dermatologist again today.  

[Gaurang Krishna, MD]

Dear jluth2010,

With the description that you have given, it seems to be an episode of angioedema. Response to atarax and prednisolone further support this diagnosis. But it is very unusual for angioedema to persist (though partially) for this long.

In view of this fact, the other possibility is urticarial vasculitis. I recommend that you continue with the desonide cream for some more time.

Is the rash (swelling) itchy or painful? Are there any symptoms at present besides the redness? Do let me know so that I can help you further with the diagnosis.

Hope that this information helps and hope that you will get better soon.

Thank you for using MedHelp's "Ask an Expert" Service, where we feature some of world's renowned medical experts in their fields. Millions have benefitted from our service to get personalized advice for them and for their loved ones.

Best Regards.
Dr. Gaurang Krishna