Help needed please - optician, ophthalmologist or maybe a GP?

[BeyondDeadlySiren]

Hi, quick question :)

How do you distinguish between scleritis, episcleritis and uveitis?

I've had severe pain, severe photophobia, tearing and blurred vision. I was advised not to try to see an emergency doctor because of the snow and as they wouldn't have the equipment to examine me in detail, so I saw an optician - but this was a few days after it was at its worst. She said it was an inflamed sclera, but didn't say how superficial the damage was so I don't know whether she meant episcelritis or scleritis.

I'm concerned that she said that it was very unlikely that it was related to my autoimmune condition - which I've been warned in the past can be linked to eye inflammation (particularly uveitis), and in hindsight I'm a little worried that she didn't take the level of pain seriously.

I was wondering if I need to be seeing my GP/contacting my rheumatologist at all or just waiting for it to clear up as I was advised?

Oops I meant to post in health!
Bump anyway, and I’ll ask mnhq to move the thread

HI I’m a long time uveitis sufferer currently enjoying a horrible flare up! At our hospital we have an eye casualty in the eye outpatient department, it might be worth you ringing the eye department and asking if you can get seen without a referral. Other than that I would suggest GP who will do you the referral for eye casualty. Hope it all goes ok and you get better soon. I’m on steroid drops for 6 weeks sigh....

Thanks! Due to my awkward body (never does anything normally!) I’m already under an ophthalmologist, for problems with the other eye. Don’t have an emergency number but I’ll see what I can find...

Hi, we're moving this over to our General Health topic at the OP's request.

Hope you get to the bottom of it soon, OP.

Thanks Dawn

The optician didn’t do an emergency referral to the nearest eye hospital? That’s quite poor. You need to get it investigated properly and treated with steroid drops.

No emergency anything. She said if it was less painful than it was, then it must be getting better on its own, and just to keep taking my usual meds (which are more than she would recommend usually so should be sufficient)

My vision seems to be better than it was, but it's been really painful again tonight. Not like the first day, but worse than the rest of the week. I'm very overtired, does that make it worse?