Could I have a serious eye problem?

Question

I wear contacts and for the past 2 months have pretty much worn my contacts constantly, hardly ever taking them out to be cleaned because I could never seem to get them clean enough and it was very uncomfortable putting them back in. They were my last pair and I lost my glasses when I moved, so they are the only way I can see. I see very well with them, but things far away have gotten a little blurry lately, so when I got insurance again I went to the eye doc for an exam and to update my perscription. The right eye was fine and needed to have a little stronger prescription, but the vision in my left eye did not change/improve no matter what strength lense he tried. I couldn't even read the fourth row. He couldn't dilate my eyes because I'm pregnant so we ordered a pair of glasses for me to wear for one week and see him again since I've worn these contacts so long. As of right now he has no clue what the problem is. Has anyone run into this type of thing or know what it could be?

Answer 1

Don't panic, it could be many different things. It could be your pregnancy, your corneas can swell just like the rest of your body. It could be over wearing your contacts, the last patient my doctor saw with this it was MS, but the patient before that it was just a fluke thing. The bottom line is there is nothing you can do right now, you will know much, much more in one week. I've never seen someone with this kind of problem that remained a mystery, we figure out the reason and fix the problem. I've never seen a sudden decrease in visual acuity non injury related that was never able to be corrected to 20/20 again, and I have been doing this for 13 years.

Answer 2

Yes, probably your cornea is swollen due to contact lens overwear, but then, your eye doc could have seen this by carrying out a simple biomicroscopy. If he did not carry out this exam, then I doubt his competence.

My advise to you will be to seek a second professional opinion just to be on the safer side. Your doctor would have recomended this since professional ethics behoves him/her to refer you to another doctor if he is unable to diagnose what the problem is.