DD15 has an eye.. thing? Advice and ideas please!

[wonderstuff]

Under her iris there is an off white line, about 1 mm thick, just below not all round, white of eye is blood shot under it, she says it’s a bit sore and she can see fine.

Google has drawn a blank, feel she needs to see someone, not sure GP or optician, not sure how urgent it is? Any ideas?

Get up at 3am and go to Moorfields. You don't get a second chance at sorting out a dodgy eye.

Not everyone lives anywhere near London. And there are loads of just as good eye hospitals all across the UK. Something like this can easily be solved between a local optician and a nearby eye hospital. For more complex retinal issues (which an optician can also diagnose initially) - which this doesn’t seem to be as it’s clearly affecting the front of the eye - then yes perhaps Moorfields would be a good shout.

So Reading is my nearest eye casualty, but she doesn’t meet the criteria they’ve listed on their website. I’ve got an appointment at 10 tomorrow morning at opticians, which is far earlier than I’ll be able to see GP. I’m about 2 hours from Moorfields and as her vision is fine I don’t think it warrants a&e, obviously if that changes I’ll head to casualty asap.

Hi OP, I’m not sure it is an iritis, her pupil is too large and she’s not light sensitive.

i can’t decide if the white thing in her lower corneal is a hypopyon (which is basically pus), or a collection of small ulcers/infiltrates. The picture isn’t quite clear enough.

the strand attached to the cornea is a filament, which are common in filamentary keratitis.

either way, she’s got corneal inflammation which needs to be seen either by an independent prescribing optometrist or at an eye casualty unit tomorrow morning. I think your nearest one is reading. Check first if the optician you’re booked in with tomorrow has independent prescribing status, if not, head there first thing tomorrow. There’s no point going to a regular A&E/minor injuries, they won’t be able to diagnose it (won’t have the equipment).

if she wears contact lenses, get her to keep them both out and take them abs the case with you as sometimes they will need to culture it.

My sister has this and the last attack altered her eyesight so now had to wear glasses. She needed steroids too. OP I'd see the optician first thing tomorrow and they'll refer to the hospital if necessary.

I've had two corneal ulcers which are so painful (and caused scarring, hence being familiar with Moorfields), so if she's not in pain every time she blinks or sweats or breathes, it's not that.

I also have blepharitis but that is based around the outer edges of the eye/eyelashes.

Optician first thing is the best call. Hope all goes well.

Oh and God yes, tell her not to put in contact lenses if she normally wears them.

Go to an optician tomorrow. I was at an event where there was a bonfire a few years ago and a spark flew into my eye and burned the upper and lower lids and left a mark on the surface of the eye itself. There were two GPs present at the event and they knew very little about eyes and treatment and googled, as you've done. I went to the optician the following day who carried out various tests, gave me some topical treatment for the burns and phoned the eye clinic at the hospital and got me an appointment for that afternoon. Skip the GP!

It’s not an eye test that she needs as in checking her vision - she needs an eye examination. Ring the optician when they open and explain. She may need to see someone different or have a longer appt.

There's an eye casualty at Reading which might be a good bet
www.royalberkshire.nhs.uk/our-services/eye-casualty/

I would say that on different occasions I was given different steroid eye drops. One made it MUCH worse, so if after having the drops even for a short time it feels worse then go back as there are alternatives

Gosh I hadn’t even noticed the strand. I will call the optician in the morning and explain and take it from there. It does look like one thing rather than a collection of
ulcers I think, but difficult to see clearly even standing next to her tbh.

I really appreciate everyone sharing their experience and knowledge.

Quick update, went to optician who had a good look and didn’t know what the issue is, so has made urgent referral to dye department at Basingstoke Hospital and says he hopes they’ll be able to see her today. Back of eye healthy and vision is the same as a year ago.

Glad to hear that you've had such prompt attention from the optometrist. I know that when mine phoned the eye department at my local hospital they jumped into action. Good luck.

Now chasing Vision Express because when we called hospital to check they’d not received the referral and VE not answering the phone. Very frustrating.

Vision express adamant they have sent email, Hospital adamant they don’t have it..

That's annoying OP. Shut for lunch?

Can you take another photo and I can see if it's any worse. Is her pupil reacting to light normally and does it look the same size as the other pupil?

Finally got through and looks like they had a wrong email address. Looks the same to me and dd says feels the same, optician didn’t have any idea, and he wasn’t particularly young, hopefully now referral has been resent to correct address and we'll get appointment at hospital soon.

Iritis is often the first symptom of sarcoidosis, an auto-immune disorder.

I’ll not worry about that yet.

@newtb the OP's daughter probably doesn't have uveitis anyway, but the type of uveitis caused by sarcoidosis is granulotomous - you can basically clumps of inflammatory cells in the anterior chamber called KPs. The OP's daughter doesn't have these.

OP - Hope you get seen soon.

I have an appointment for Monday afternoon at emergency eye clinic at my local hospital, poor dd could have gone back to school today after all! Will update the mystery when I find out.

How is her eye?

Looks like the start of corneal arcus which is a sign of high cholesterol. Very unusual to see it in a child though.

GP or optician both reasonable options. Would be interested to know what it turns out to be.

No noticeable change in her eye, but the cold we thought she was almost over has returned with vengeance and she’s tired and snotty and complaining of headaches which seem linked to mucus from cold rather than her eyes. My hunch, based on no medical training, is that it’s some sort of immune reaction linked to having this virus 🤷🏻‍♀️.

She’s had a few issues that are unusual over time, keeps me on my toes.