Why is one of my eyes painful and watery?

For the past few days, my left eye has been causing me some problems. About 4-5 times a day, it starts to water like I'm crying, becomes very painful, and I can't open it for about 1-2 minutes. It seems to happen when I'm exposed to bright sunlight, waking up in the morning, staring at my computer screen for too long, or if I rub my eye. Last night, the problematic eye looked a bit more swollen than the right and was slightly tender to the touch. I started putting drops in it that I got from a doctor when I had an eye infection a few months ago. The eye isn't red and I don't have any allergies that I'm aware of, and it's only the left eye.

[Sandy Feldman, MD, MS]

Dear genny666,

I would recommend that you seek the care of an eyeMD to determine the cause of this pain and obtain treatment.  It is possible that you may have a corneal erosion, inflammation inside the eye, or some other issues.

Dr. Feldman

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