To think you don’t go to A&E for eye pain?

[Lis1992]

A friend suggested I consider it, to make sure my vision is protected. But I’d never even consider it for eye pain, unless I had an acute injury. Basically had eye pain starting yesterday, and swelling of eyelid. It’s really red and it is quite swollen. Eye is sore every time I blink. But I’m not systemically unwell- normal appetite etc. a quick Google also mentioned get immediate medical attention for pain. But surely conjunctivitis, styes (don’t think it’s that as whole eyelid swollen- no lump or pimple) , all hurt? so why go to A&E? Or am I missing something!

Go now. Injury or swelling around your eye is a medical emergency.

The optician won't be open now, which h is why people are saying to go to A&E

I'm in Ireland too - ring out of hours Doc - they will ask triage type questions over phone & then see you or refer you to A&E if necessary.
Don't delay with eye issues.

A&E/eye cas/optician only if you have altered vision/severe persisting pain.

Sounds like you have blepharitis, treatment is initially massaging with a warm compress 3-4x daily.
https://patient.info/eye-care/swollen-eyelid/blepharitis

Have a read of that page and look at the picture, if you agree that's what it is then follow the treatment plan, if it's not settling GP/optician.

My 11yo daughter spent a week in hospital with orbital cellulitis. I rang gp because her eyelid was slightly swollen, they gave us an urgent appt and took one look and sent us straight to A&E. It's very serious and she only got better with IV antibiotics. She also had to have daily checks with the opthalmology dept to make sure her sight wasn't affected and follow ups after.

@SleepyRich it could be, or it could be orbital cellulitis. You don’t know so why would you advise staying at home and self treating. Baffling.
OP this is predominantly British site- is there an equivalent in Eire? No use us advising to go to A&E if there’s an obvious and better alternative. But I do suggest you get it seen tonight. I’ve seen it twice in real life- as pp have said immediate intravenous antibiotics. The other time dc had mumps and they were concerned about admitting to a ward of sick children so trusted me to treat him at home. I’ve never been spoken to with such gravity, and the gp even checked he didn’t miss a dose. It’s very very serious.

I worked in an eye unit. Ring the hospital eye unit and explain, they will probably ask you to come in.

Ring OOH doctor (Dubdoc/ShannonDoc) or present to A&E.

@Youresocool oh I’m so sorry to hear that. Your poor daughter. Can I ask did she have other illness symptoms like fever etc? As I’ve none of that and still have an appetite. But have eyelid swelling and pain

I’m afraid A&E will brush me off if it’s just an internal stye or conjunctivitis.

Why are so many people saying "optician"?

She doesn't need a vision test or new glasses! She is experiencing pain and the only thing an optician would do is to refer her to the eye unit at the hospital! Opticians know their job and it's to preserve people's vision. When something is outside their expertise, they refer on.

If the OP's eye doesn't "settle", the damage to the OP's sight in the meantime could be permanent.

@Solonge thanks that’s helpful. Am I not wasting their time calling, or can you call with a question like that?

And they won't if it's neither of those things. Goodness sake!

Please look at my post upthread OP

yes, eyes are an emergency. but optician would be better than AnE, or an eye hospital

Same. I don't regret it.

For heaven's sake, who is advising a pharmacist having a look at it. An optometrist is at least trained about eyes and can spot an eye emergency. But you do need to get seen. People have died from eye infections as seen by the recent problem about the contaminated eye drops in the United States recently.

A lot of ED time is spent ruling out more serious conditions. Hopefully it is nothing serious, but you need to.find that out, by seeing an expert

We thought that my GC had conjunctivitis. It was peri orbital cellulitis. She had pain, it was the excessive swelling that took us to A&E on the second day. We'd gone to a chemist who told us that it was conjunctivitis. Tbh I've been given incorrect advice from a chemist on multiple occasions. We phoned 111 and when I phoned the opticians they said that they couldn't prescribe, so we thought why wait and went to A&E, we were done within three hours.

When I had what I thought was conjunctivitis I got drops and left it.

A couple of days later I went to see my GP who sent me to A and E. It was iritis, literally the iris swells.

My iris had got stuck on the lens, the pressure was through the roof and they let me 'try' two lots of drops before they used a needle to separate them.

I now have a patch of blue on my lens.

The second time it happened I went straight to A and E.

If you don't mind going blind then no don't go to A and E.

Ring up, Ask for ophthalmology and then just explain the problem. We used to see any conditions/pain such as you describe. A&E wont deal with eyes per se, they just get the ophthalmologist down. You could also pop into your local opticians, they are very good at advising best thing to do. Good luck.

Once upon a time, when I was young and clueless about eye health, I booked an eye-test because I'd noticed my sight through my right-hand glasses lens had got progressively blurrier. My eye didn't hurt at all, so I concluded that I needed a new prescription.

I did not need a new prescription. My eye had something physically wrong with it, but the optician couldn't say what, so they had me booked in for an emergency appointment at the eye clinic that afternoon.

It took the chief consultant on duty to determine what was wrong, and treatment lasting some months was necessary. The issue got worse before it got better, because I'd taken so long to seek treatment at all. When I say worse, I mean "waking up in pain screaming" and "unable to see".

It can be a quick way of getting a diagnosis and the back of the eye looked at. In my GC case we decided to go straight to A&E because they can't prescribe antibiotics. If you were looking at a eight hour wait, getting directed to an optician via 111 would get you seen quicker because they'd then book you into A&E with a diagnosis.

No you go to eye casualty

Our local hospital has an eye casualty. You have to call them and they get a nurse to phone you back. I would definitely make a call in your shoes @Lis1992. You can lose your sight without being unwell.