Eye Ulcer??

[janette]

Anyone ever have one of these? My 15yo DD has an eye that has bothered her for a few days. It was really painful at school today and she went to nurse, they said it was pink eye and sent her home.

I took her to the pediatrician and he said there is a spot on her eye and she needed to go to an ophthalmologist to determine exactly what it is. I was able to get her an appointment for the morning and they said it is probably an ulcer especially since she is a contact lens wearer.

Looking it up on the internet just brings up scary stuff. Hoping someone can tell me what the most common treatment is. She is horrified at the thought of wearing her glasses for very long and sounds like it might be contagious but not always. I'm hoping she can go to school tomorrow, I'll have to ask that in the morning.

Anyone else deal with this?

 

[llp479]

Run, don't walk to the DR. Our 13 yr old neighbor had this and almost lost the vision in her eye. It's slowly improving, but she has a blind spot in the middle of her vision. They say it could take as long as 6 mos to a year for her vision to return. It's very sad because she was a star basketball player and can't play this year because she can't see to shoot.

Hope your DD has a better outcome.

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

I am a contact lens wearer and had a corneal ulcer about two months ago. It is VERY painful and I was VERY light-sensitive. It was also very easy to treat. After being placed on an antibiotic/steroidal ointment I noticed a big difference within a day. I was wearing my CL's successfully and without pain within one week of the diagnosis.

 

[petrymom]

I used to wear contact lenses when I was a teenager. I had a terrible episode when I was 17. It was eventually diagnosed as herpes simplex I of the eye. I can no longer wear contacts as the stress of the contacts will cause my eye to break out again. I get reoccurences mostly on an annual basis, but sometimes even more often. I get very depressed because it is very painful and I cannot see very well during the outbreak.

This is most likely NOT what your daughter has, but PLEASE take her to the opthamologist ASAP and have her looked at. Her sight is nothing to play around with. I only wish that I would have taken better care of my contacts and eyes and maybe I wouldn't be in the position I am in today.

Good Luck!

 

[ilovejack02]

Ulcers are NOT contagious, but can be very painful. If not treated can continue to "errode" and get worse, cause scaring and can lose vision. It can just start with a slight scratch and go from there. Get her to DR. asap. Do not let her wear contacts... needs to wear her glasses!

 

[piglet too]

My son developed one last Spring and it was treated with steroid drops. He was unable to wear his contacts for a long time, and now has a more "breathable" brand.

 

[MScott1851]

I had a corneal ulcer when I was 15...I went on a camping/whitewater rafting trip and wasn't as meticulous about my contacts as I should have been.

I remember it being very, very painful, and I didn't wear contact lenses for almost 6 months in that eye. I was given antibiotic drops, steroid drops, and also some numbing drops at first. I tried wearing just the left contact, it was fine at school, but I played basketball and I had zero depth perception...so it was glasses during ballgames for me!

See an opthamologist immediately, NOT an optometrist. No reason she can't go to school, other than she might be in too much pain right now. I missed a couple of days when I got home from my trip simply because I was too photosensitive to open my eyes.

 

[janette]

Thanks! We do have an appointment first thing in the morning with an opthamologist so we'll be able to get answers then. I won't let her wear her contacts until we get an all clear from the Dr. She's doing a special event on Thanksgiving and hopefully she'll be able to at least wear one contact. She'll be dancing so her glasses won't be an option. She doesn't need to see the audience to dance so that is a good thing!

 

[golfgal]

A friend of ours daughter just had something with her eye as well as the DD of a poster on this board. It was pretty severe and she had to put in drops every 1/2 hour around the clock for several days then every hour, then every 2 hours, etc. They told her she may never be able to wear contacts again. The medicine she had to take is only made at 2 places in the state, U of MN and they Mayo Clinic. She could have lost sight in that eye-she was only seeing shadows when she first went in. She is doing fine now but it was scary. Get to a GOOD MD eye doctor (ophthalmologist)!