Swollen, sore eyes - can anyone help me work out why?

[Gastropod]

In the last month I've woken up on various separate occasions with my eyes swollen/puffy and very sticky. Both eyes the same (it doesn't start in one eye and move to the other).

Not itchy but somewhat sore and red. After a couple of days the swelling and redness fades and then a few days later it returns.

I've had viral conjunctivitis before and this doesn't feel anything like that.

I don't wear contacts.

The pharmacist gave me an antibiotic ointment but it doesn't make much difference.

I will try to make a doctors appointment but by the time it'll take to get seen it's likely the symptoms will have faded which may make it harder to diagnose.

In the meantime, any guesses as to what it could be? It's horrid and it's driving me crazy!

The only link I can possibly make is wearing a mask - I recently switched from fabric to surgical kind. Where I live we have to wear them whenever we are out of the house. The symptoms definitely started since I switched mask types but that could just be a coincidence!

It does sound like an allergy. But are opticians open? You may be struggling to get a GP appointment quickly enough, but an optician should be able to give you a quicker turn around, and when it comes to eyes, they are as good as or better than many GPS's. If you phone and explain, most could fit you in quite quickly.

Thanks - i hadn't thought about the optician! I think they are open here yes. I'll try and give them a call tomorrow.

I read an article on how allergies are going mad due to lockdown as we never leave the house. Dust mite is the main culprit. Could it be this?

Thanks, I thought it might be an allergy and have been taking an oral antihistamine but I can't really tell if it's making any difference.
I have had allergic reactions in my eyes before and it usually makes them itchy, which I don't have this time. It's just so odd, comes and goes with no rhyme or reason... Definitely not ruling out the allergy possibility therefore!

I agree that opticians are much better for this sort of problem. There are some eye conditions that should not be treated with antibiotic ointment.

MGD/blepharitis ?

Had to Google those terms but yes, sounds plausible.Thank you.
I'd heard of dry eyes being made worse by mask wearing, which made me wonder in the first place. I think I def need to get down to the opticians - and I'll stop with the AB ointment for now as it's not helping anyway.

Could be dry eyes (meibomian gland disjunction) Was driving me nuts.
I had pain , sore red eyes went to the optician who advised heat eye packs to stimulate and unblock the glands, eyelid massage and cleansing and then drops. Worked a treat. Might not be this but worth a try. Boots Superdrug have the heat pads and I used hycosan drops and now visco tears.

Blephartis? I get it when I'm stressed, sounds like what you have.

Yes could be blepharitis- you can get a heated eye mask to help and also special solution to clean the eye margins called blephasol -really important to do this during a flare up as if you get a blocked duct you can end up with a chalazion which is like a lump under the eye lid and that is not nice at all!

Take photos the next time if happens so you have a record of your symptoms

Thank you all so much! I'm reading up on blepharitis (it does sound a lot like that) and am going to see if I can get a heated eye mask as I'm sure it'll feel nice anyway!
And good idea for the photos, that never occured to me but is a good tip.