Chronic Redness, Intermittent Itching, Foreign Body Sensation in Eyes

[grad_student]

Hi,

For the past six or seven weeks, I have had the following symptoms:
1) Redness (pinkish redness, really) in the outer corners of my eyes generally extending to the Iris.  The inner corners of my eyes remain white.
2) Eye itching of varying intensity.  Sometimes the itching sensation becomes overwhelming.  The itchiness seems to more or less track the daily pollen count.
3) Foreign body sensation which comes and goes without any clear triggers.  Also, I unfailingly experience fairly severe foreign body sensation when I rub my eyes, which I try to avoid doing.  When I experience the sensation my eyes tend to water more than usual, but otherwise they aren't particularly watery.
4) Yellow discharge crusted on the eyelashes in the morning.  Generally no discharge during the day.
5) My eyes are generally more bloodshot in the morning and the severity fades a bit within the first one to two hours after waking up.

I have no eye pain, no sensitivity to light, and no vision impairment.

I saw two GPs last week.  The first one put me on an antibiotic ointment for conjunctivitis which partially alleviated the redness but did nothing for the itching.  The redness came back fully after I discontinued the antibiotic.  The second GP said that this is almost certainly an allergic reaction because of the itching and the bilateral manifestation.  I have since started Allegra-D, which has relieved some of the itching but has not done anything for the redness.  The redness in fact seems to have increased slightly.  I have had eye allergies and other allergies in the past, but nothing of this nature.  I am hoping to see an opthamologist some time in the coming week, but I would really appreciate any help diagnosing this.

[grad_student]

Thanks you very much.

[Sandy Feldman, MD, MS]

Both infections and allergies of the eye can cause some, if not all of the symptoms you describe.  Infections often cause redness and discharge, but are not accompanied by itching while allergy may cause all of the above, with the discharge a result of tearing that has crusted overnight.  Some commonly prescribed medications do cause allergy.  I would recommend that you see an eyeMD to determine your diagnosis.  

[grad_student]

A little more information:

I wear glasses but never contacts.

This may or may not be relevant, but a few days before I began experiencing this I went on a mountain hike.  For over three hours of the hike volcanic ash was being blown into my face and eyes.  I could feel the ash in my eyes, but I didn't notice any severe irritation at the time.