My eye is poofy and practically swollen shut

So I woke up this morning to find my left eye really poofy and practically swollen shut and I thought it must have been from me keeping my contacts in while I slept.  The wierd thing is that there is no puss or any other type of white or yellow (or any other type of) residue coming from the eye.  And the eye is white, no redness whatsoever which would lead me to think the eye isn't irritated at all.  So because there was no residue and the eye wasn't irritated I thought I could just sleep it off, well I've just slept for about 6 hours and the eye is still poofy and almost completely shut yet there is still no residue and the eye is still white, any help on what's the deal here and how I can treat it (quickly as I don't want to have to call in sick a second straight day)??????

P.S. I tried the doctor forums but it wouldn't even let me post a question saying there were already too many questions posted for the day or something like that...

The quicker I get a reply on how to get my eye back to normal the better, thanks guys!!!

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Hello Jester123  If the eye is white and clear, there is no discharge and the vision is good the eye itself is probably not the problem. Ther are two things that are common that might cause this: first an early stye or eyelid infection. Usually there is a place on the eyelid that is painful and tender to touch. Second if the lid is swollen but not tender or red it may mean that there is an allergic reaction involving the eyelid. Often its something that was inadvertently rubbed on the lids such as chemicals, plant herbicides, insecticides, solvents, ink, facial cosmetics, hair coloring, etc. The list is endless.

Home treatment is probably limited to warm or cool compresses. If Benadryl over the counter doesn't make you sleepy you could try that. Fallback is to see an ophthalmologist tomorrow if you're no better.

JCH III MD Ophthalmologist     Eye MD

[Sam0924]

Hi my husband went to sleep a couple of hours ago and we were woken up by our 2 year old when i looked at him his eye was swollen half closed very watery and he told me it was hurting, i immediately turned the light on and the inside of his eyeb(not the iris) looks like it has a bag of watery discharge that wants to pop in there. Im scared, should we go to the hospital or try home remedies? Help please.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

If he is not sick, seem ill, no temperature, no pain in eye, no reduced vision then usually an ER visit is not necessary.  During the summer months we see a lot of this in the office. It's like a "hive" on the eye. The medical name for it is "chemosis".  It's usually allergic in nature. When only in one eye the cause is often something that has gotton on the hands and been rubbed into the eyelids. Often it occurs after yardward or handiwork.  

Systemic allergies like hayfever or food allergies usually affect both eyes.

Home treatment is probably limited to warm or cool compresses. If Benadryl over the counter doesn't make you sleepy you could try that. Fallback is to see an ophthalmologist tomorrow if you're no better.

JCH III MD Ophthalmologist     Eye MD