Medical mystery

Eye redness occurred in left eye in October, after I had tried to put false eyelashes on my left eye, although failed as eye began to water
My left eye became bloodshot in the outer corner, and also noticeably smaller than my right eye
In January I was sent to see eye specialist after trying several different treatments prescribed by several doctors
After using prescribed eye steroid drops, redness spread to right eye which also became smaller, and also a weekly occurrence of swelling has occurred
The most the medicine has ever done is to reduce the redness and open up my eyes after the first few days of being on it, and then condition returns back to normal
I have seen around 5-6 eye specialists and they do not know what is wrong with me

Other things I have noticed –
Neck pain often in accordance with swelling
Eyes often now feel strained particularly on days when swelling occurs
Swelling only occurs when I’ve been asleep, and also eye opens up throughout the day, and swelling also goes down a bit with ibibrufen, an example would be an afternoon nap, my eyelid was ever so slightly swollen, when I went to sleep that night woke up with it noticeably swollen the next day, also another time woke up at 3 eye fine when I woke again at 7 swollen
Swelling also seems to have a pattern i.e at the moment every Sunday, and Wednesday or Thursday
Recently ears have been popping when I go to sleep
An ophthalmologist recommended that I use a hot compress against my eye and rub it – on both eyes when I do this I can feel what feels like an eyelash scratching against my eyeball
On the two occasions when swelling has be seriously bad and eye swollen effectively shut, the week previously I have had serious painful eyes
Please help me!!!

[Sandy Feldman, MD, MS]

Dear Ail_Hill,

I would recommend that you seek the care of a corneal specialist to determine the cause of your issues.  It is possible that you have an infection of the eyelids or scratching of the front surface, or a number of other conditions.

Dr. Feldman

Sandy T. Feldman, M.D., M.S.
ClearView Eye and Laser Medical Center
San Diego, California