Dry red eyes for the past seven weeks with no cure

I woke up one morning about seven weeks ago with really bloodshot eyes. I have been a soft contacts wearer for about 15 years now, so I have experienced eye irritation in the past, but nothing like this. My first thought was that it was pink eye, so I immediately started wearing my glasses from that day forward, hoping it would go away in a matter of a few days. Unfortunately it did not, so I then went to a walk in clinic and they prescribed an ointment, Tobrex, to clear up my eyelids. I used that for a little over a week and it did not help. So, I went to my family doctor and he referred me to my optometrist, and also prescribed allergy drops and recommended Systane Ultra and some nighttime tears ointment. The allergy drops did not make a difference either. Systane does sooth the eyes and periodically get rid of some redness and burning. I went to my optometrist a couple days later and he prescribed an antibiotic, saying that he noticed that the lymph vessels in my eyelids looked a little swollen. So I took the antibiotic for a little over two weeks, and still no improvement. Nothing has worked, my eyes are still as red as ever. I just saw my optometrist a couple of days ago and he did the test where they apply the orange dye to check for dry spots (sorry I can't remember the medical term for it). He said that my cornea is showing alot of dry spots, especially near the top. He said that the cells are flaking off my eyes and not regenerating. That certainly scared me a little bit when he said that. He said that since I didn't have an infection it was nothing to worry about. He recommended I use the Systane Ultra drops every hour and Refresh LacriLube ointment at night, and come back to see him in a week.
I'm sure when I go back to see my optometrist next week he will hopefully provide more answers based on whether I show any improvement, but in the meantime it's been very stressful having this condition, so hoping someone can help with their expertise/experience.

[Houman Vosoghi, MD]

You should go see an ophthalmologist/eye MD and not an optometrist for this.  A cornea specialist would be even better.  They need to flip your upper eyelid to look for a condition called giant papillary conjunctivits as well as a couple of other conditions that could cause staining of the cornea superiorly.  Don't wear contacts until this is settled.  You can find a specialist near you at www.aao.org (you can search for cornea in the specialty section).

HV

[skhimji]

Thankyou very much for your feedback Dr Vosoghi. I will discuss your recommendations with my optometrist during my follow up appointment next week. Unfortunately I'm in Canada so I don't think the website will work for me. Fingers are crossed.