Eye Problems

There are different types of eye problems such as dry eyes, conjunctivitis and glaucoma. Different type of treatments is available for each eye syndromes.

There are different types of eye problems that can occur to anyone throughout his or her life. Some of them have potential harm to the sufferer while some are minor and do not really need any interventions.

(1) Conjunctivitis

One of the common eye problems is the conjunctivitis. It is associated with painful red eye. In conjunctivitis, the conjunctiva in the eye becomes inflamed due to infection allergy or irritation.

There are two possible infections either by bacteria or virus. The bacterial infection is associated with stickiness and reddening of the eyes but viral infection is associated with watery eyes. It rarely occurs at both eyes but if it does, this may suggest other cause such as presence of foreign body or other condition.

Symptoms

(1) Eye discomfort like burning gritty and minimal pain.

(2) Minimal photophobia.

(3) Eyelids stuck due to discharge after sleep.

(4) Blurring vision by discharge. This can be cleared by blinking.

Referral to doctor

(1) Moderate to severe pain.

(2) If the eye become too red. This may suggest serious secondary cause and investigation need to be done.

(3) Loss of visual acuity.

Serious causes of a red eye

(1) Acute glaucoma

a. Raised intraocular pressure with pain in the eye, headache, and blurring of vision.

Treatment

There is no serious reason to start a treatment for conjunctivitis as it is self-limiting and will resolve within 1-2 weeks.

Chloramphenicol eye drops is typically used in the management of conjunctivitis and is applied every 2 hours for the first 48 hours and then 4 hourly for 5 days before it is discarded.

Fusidic acid is an alternative to chloramphenicol in case the use of chloramphenicol is contraindicated. Fusidic acid is more suitable for pregnant women and it is usually used twice a day for seven days.

(2) Stye

Stye eye is associated with redness, tenderness and pain in the eye. It is very obvious to the sufferers as they can diagnose it by detection of a spot pimple present below the eyelid.

It is common to people of all ages and usually resolved spontaneously within few two to three days. Antibacterial ointment is usually recommended for treatment of stye.

People with diabetes mellitus are more prone to get stye eye and is triggered by stress. Women and men are equally affected by stye. It is also believed that style is more prevalence in people with high blood lipid as the blockage may occurs.

Symptoms

(1) Redness, tenderness and pain

(2) Usually affecting one eye

(3) If left untreated, swelling with followed up with discomfort when blinking eye.

(4) Watering of the eye.

(5) Photophobia

Treatments

(1) Anesthetic to relieve the pain due to the stye.

(2) Antibiotic ointment. This requires prescription from the doctor is not available OTC.

Advices

(1) Don’t wear contact lenses during the infection.

(2) Avoid eye makeup.

(3) Use warm clothes and gentle compress the eye for about 10 mintues. This is in order to rupture the blockage to facilitate drainage.

(4) Don’t touch eye and keep the eye tools clean.

(5) Don’t squeeze the stye as it may promote infection.

(6) No contact lenses when suffering from stye.

Referral

(1) Symptoms persist for several days without improvement despite efforts ease it.

(3) Dry eyes

Dry eye syndrome is very normal and is nothing to worry about. It is due to disorder of the tear film and causes excessive evaporation from the surface of the eyes.

Symptom of dry eyes will be exacerbated by dry air, wind, dust and smoke.

Symptoms

(1) Not red but irritated especially when close eyes tightly.

Treatments

Artificial tears (Hypromellose 0.3% eye drops) are the treatment of dry eyes. Beware of the preservatives such as benzalkonium hexachloride that may irritate eyes. If more than 6 applications per day are needed; it is recommend using preservatives free preparation.

An eye ointment with paraffin or paraffin plus lanolin is used to provide lubrication to the affected eyes. It is best applied at night especially bedtime because it may blur vision.

Advices

(1) Don’t wear contact lenses.

(4) Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a serious eye problem and need to be referred to the GP as soon as possible. It is due to increased in intraocular pressure that built up due to fluids within the eyes.

Symptoms

(1) Impaired vision

(2) Halo appearance around lights