Why does my face hurt?

[MargotBamborough]

Has anyone else experienced this?

For a couple of weeks now my face has been hurting. It has been worst around my eyes and I have developed something which looks like eczema/psoriasis on my eyelids, but my actual eyes are stinging a lot and I haven't been able to wear my contact lenses for about a week now. I think I did have hay fever around two weeks ago but that has now stopped and the sensitivity has remained.

I have been keeping the worst of the dry skin on my eyelids at bay by using a cream for eyelids eczema which was prescribed for my daughter a few months ago, but the skin still feels very dry and painful, as though it is breaking.

The rest of my face is also sore and sensitive. It feels like I have sunburn, but I don't. When I look in the mirror I look tired (more on that later) but otherwise normal. There is no redness or visible rash. When I moisturise the cream stings (whatever I use) but sinks right in and a few minutes later that tight feeling returns.

There is no problem anywhere else on my body, the pain is completely localised to my face. I do feel knackered and run down though, due to having a baby who feeds through the night and a toddler with chicken pox!

Possible relevant factors:

I'm 5 months postpartum.

My son currently has chicken pox.

I've been messing around with my skincare a bit recently and before this all started was trying to use up different products, but my usually not-sensitive skin didn't react badly to any of them at the time. At the moment I'm trying to only use gentle cleansers and moisturisers but nothing is alleviating the soreness.

I changed contact lenses a couple of months ago after about 20 years of using the same brand. During the trial month I felt my eyes were a bit drier than before but I tolerated the new lenses reasonably well.

What could it be? Could it possibly be shingles without a rash? I don't know where my son caught the chicken pox from.

Please help diagnose me. I am seeing the doctor on Monday.

I used Cetaphil's gentle cleaner for decades. It changed its formula recently and my face ended up very sore and inflamed. I think it is something that you are using on your face even if is described as gentle.

Thanks for the reply@Violasaremyfavourite.

I've never really had sensitive skin at all, but I'm considering swapping out all my skincare products for coconut oil for a few days and seeing whether that makes a difference. I'm racking my brains and I don't think I'm even using any products which weren't already opened before this started though.

Shingles would only be on one side of your face and would be a coincidence if you had it at the same time as your son had chickenpox as you don't catch shingles, it's a random reactivation of the virus that caused chickenpox.

You can suddenly become allergic to a product that has been fine before. I developed very bad eye allergies in my twenties to preservatives in contact lens solutions that I had used for years without any problems.

Could it be hay-fever? The area around my eyes is so sore, so is the tops of my cheeks but it is sinus pressure. I've also got dry flaky skin and dry eyes all caused by the oil seed rape in the field next to the house flowering. Happens every year when they plant it in this field.

Have a look at blepharitis.

Stop using anything on your face for a few days - I suspect you'll see a big difference.

Just because a product is described as gentle doesn't mean you're not allergic to it.

OP, as you mention using up old products on your face - you've possibly overused retinols or retinoids that you don't usually use - these need you to gradually build them up, and to only use them a max of every other day.

If you google meibomian gland problems (eye glands), you'll see retinols and retinoids can cause it, and the retinols/oids can cause the burning feeling on your face, especially if you've been in the sun at all.

And of course see the doctor to be sure it isn't something more serious - but yes, stop using stuff on your face. If you have oats, stick them in a muslin bag (or you can use a baby muslin square and an elastic band) and wet them, then press the 'juice' on your face - it's really soothing and can't hurt.

Don’t use eczema cream on your eyes. I did (and one that was prescribed for that purpose unlike yours!) and have permanently thinned the skin so it keeps splitting.

Use a very neutral moisturiser like Epaderm cream and the mildest face wash you can - I use Simple.

My first thought is shingles too.
If you’re run down, your child has chicken pox and it’s around your eye it’s highly highly likely.
You might need medical attention if it is I’m afraid.
I know this from personal experience. Hope you get well soon.

I've never used retinols or retinoids so it's definitely not that. I will try the oat thing though.

It's not hydrocortisone cream, don't worry. It's an eczema cream specifically for eyelids which doesn't contain any steroids and was prescribed for my three month old daughter a couple of months ago.

I was searching old threads on here and someone mentioned that sometimes you don't get a rash with shingles. I assumed my son caught chicken pox from crèche but maybe I have shingles and he caught it from me.

I am seeing the doctor on Monday and she has already seen him for his chicken pox so I'll ask her about that.

I've just looked this up but I don't think it fits with my symptoms and I do always cleanse properly in that area. Hopefully it's not that!

I was thinking more that if I have it he might have caught chicken pox from me rather than from another child.

I’ve had shingles in my face and it wasn’t like that at all.

Get to a doctor

@MargotBamborough - possible but unlikely. To catch chickenpox from someone with shingles you have to come into direct contact with the fluid from the blisters / rash. You can't catch it with coughs / sneezes in the same way that you do when you catch it from someone with chickenpox (which is much more contagious).

True but very easy for your child to catch it off you. That is exactly what happened with my DD who was a toddler and caught CP off me from my shingles on my face just from normal parent-child kisses and cuddles.