Eye Irritation After Wearing Contacts

[moutlaw07]

I noticed constant irritation in my right eye after leaving a contact in for too long so I took it out. Even without the contact in, scratchy irritation has now stuck with me for about five weeks now. I went to see an optometrist two weeks ago and she said there was no sign of infection and she couldn't point out any obvious sores or foreign objects. To help prevent infection during the healing process, she proscribed me Vigamox (4 drops a day for a week). Its now been two weeks since then with no very little noticeable improvement. The symptoms I'm experiencing are irritation when I blink, slight redness, slight swelling of the eyelids, small mucus discharge at tear ducts, and it still gets irritated when I try to put my (new) contact in. Any ideas on what this might be/measures I should take to expedite the healing process?

[Doreen Fazio, M.D.]

It is hard to say without an exam. One possibility is GPC, or giant papillary conjunctivitis, which is a response of the upper lid tissues to the contact lens material or deposits on the contact lens.  This is diagnosed by everting the upper lid and looking for the characteristic bumps (papillae).  Since you are not noticing improvement, I would see an ophthalmologist for a complete evaluation, and leave out the contact lens until then.  

[moutlaw07]

Ok, went to an ophthalmologist yesterday.. She said still no bacterial infection and it didn't look viral but she was noticing very small spots on my eye and there was still clear irritation (but no redness) and slight swelling of the eyelid.  She prescribed me a drop to use this week that has a light steroid and antibiotic and told me to stop using if it seems to get worse after the first uses (though all seems well so far). Thanks for the helpful post! Hopefully this takes care of it for me as I'd love to be able to wear my contacts again in the near future, but not until its all healed up.