Poked myself in eye and now weird thing is happening

[alwaysaquestion]

I'm 62, and I have blepharitis. I was about to do my usual cleaning and warm compresses on my lids when I accidentally poked myself in the eye with my finger on the outer and lower side of my sclera. It stung, and my eye got all bloodshot. So I waited a few hours for my eye to calm down and then proceeded with the cleaning and compresses. When I removed the compress on my poked eye, the lower lid had folded into the eye, and I could see the ends of my eyelashes sticking up against my eyeball -- I believe it's called entropion. It really freaked me out! I gently pulled down the lid, and it went back to its usual place. Is this something that can happen when an eye is irritated and the heat makes it worse? Or is this more serious? As far as I know, it hasn't happened again, unless while I was sleeping. Now I'm afraid to do my daily blepharitis treatment which will make my eye even more irritated. My eye doesn't hurt but there's still some minor discomfort where I poked it. What do you think?

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

You are correct the problem is called entropion. It is not caused by using eyelid cleaner. The most common cause is uneven aging of the muscles that hold the lid verticle. If the front muscle is weak canuse entropion, if back muscle is weak causes ectropion. As long as the eyelid does roll in regularly and cause on-going irritation usually not worry. If doe see ophthalmologist

[alwaysaquestion]

Thank you, Dr. Hagan. I had been worried that by poking myself in the eye, I might have damaged a tendon or something that led to the entropion. I'd also guess, as an extension on your answer, that a very warm compress for, say, 10 minutes likely softens the very thin skin of the eyelid and can briefly exacerbate the problem. Yes, the eyelid was easy to gently set right. I appreciate your help.

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

Happy to help