What to do if upper eyelid is swollen and painful

If your upper eyelid is swollen and painful, you may be suffering from conjunctivitis. Conjunctivitis is also known as pink eye. After becoming ill, patients will experience decreased vision, redness, swelling and pain in the eyes, fear of light, a foreign body sensation or a burning sensation, etc. Because conjunctivitis is an infectious disease, patients can use external eye drops for anti-inflammatory purposes while keeping their eyes clean, such as ofloxacin eye drops.

Conjunctivitis refers to the inflammation of the conjunctiva, which is the most common cause of "eye congestion".

Normally, the white of the eye (sclera) is covered by a thin membrane called the conjunctiva. It produces mucus, which covers and lubricates the surface of the eye. The conjunctiva in normal state contains tiny blood vessels.

When the conjunctiva becomes inflamed or irritated, these tiny blood vessels become enlarged and congested, causing the white of the eye to appear red. Conjunctivitis can be caused by many different irritations to the eye. The most common are infections, allergies and environmental irritants. Because the conjunctiva is a simple tissue, its response to these stimuli is that the conjunctiva changes from colorless to red and secretes some mucus or pus-like substances.

Infectious agents include bacteria and viruses. Bacterial infections, such as staphylococcus or streptococcus, not only cause "eye congestion", but also a large amount of pus. If the amount of secretion is large, the possibility of acute infection is very high and you must seek medical attention immediately and be treated by an ophthalmologist.

Some bacterial infections are more chronic, producing little or no discharge, and only slight crusting may be seen on the eyelashes when waking up in the morning.

Viral infection is also a common cause of conjunctivitis, especially during the transition period between spring and summer. Acute epidemic conjunctivitis caused by adenovirus infection may cause eye congestion as well as sore throat, runny nose, fever and other symptoms. This type of conjunctivitis usually produces a watery discharge rather than pus and lasts one to two weeks. pass

Infectious conjunctivitis, whether bacterial or viral, is highly contagious, so contact with the patient's tears, whether through a handkerchief, towel or fingers, can cause infection. Once in contact, wash your hands immediately to prevent the spread of infection.

In addition to infectious causes that can cause conjunctivitis, allergies are also a type of conjunctivitis that produces secretions. Certain types of allergies, such as hay fever, can cause very itchy eyes. Other types of allergies may simply cause chronic eye congestion. Environmental irritants, such as smoke, dust, etc., may also cause conjunctivitis.

Any type of conjunctivitis may be aggravated by dry eyes. Another cause of chronic conjunctivitis is long-term use of eye drops. Chronic inflammation of the conjunctiva may occur due to preservatives in eye drops or reactions caused by the drugs themselves. When I put the eye drops in, I felt very comfortable. But after a while, I started to feel discomfort in my eyes. The more I put the drops in, the more uncomfortable I felt, and the redness of my eyes would not go away.

"Chronic blepharitis" and "seborrheic blepharitis" can also cause chronic conjunctivitis. Dry secretions can be seen sticking to the openings of the meibomian glands at the eyelid margins.