Not a chalazion?

I'm pretty desperate and I'm hoping I can find help here. I have had what I thought was a chalazion for over a year and a half. I went to the eye doctor when it first appeared, went on antibiotics, and did the heat compresses, but it never fully went away. Recently, I got two other ones, on the same eye and my other eye. I went to the doctor and again was given antibiotics and told to keep a warm compress on it. I did the round of antibiotics for two weeks and stopped them a week ago. This is what my eyes look like now: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a47/lashby78/P1070236_eyes.jpg

You can still see the large bump on my left eye and my lid is droopy. The latest antibiotic I was on was doxycycline, and I am allergic to pennicillin (penicillin), bractrim, and codiene.

I don't know what to do. Nothing seems to work and since I don't have insurance, it's getting costly to keep going to the doctor. Have any of you seen this before? What is the treatment for it? Will my lid go back to normal?    

[Sandy Feldman, MD, MS]

Dear missplum,

It does sound as if you have a condition which might be contributing to the development of chalazia.  I would recommend that you seek the care of an eyeMD to determine the best methods to try to prevent their development as well as treatments.  If you are left with large residual knots, they can be surgically drained once the acute infection has cleared.  Most  chalazia do resolve with conservative therapy.

Dr. Feldman

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