My eye is very red and dry, the hydration drops seem to have made it worse!!!?

Question

A month ago one of my eyes started to get red, I used some drops that i found over the counter and they made it worse, my eye started to itch and discharge, I went to the doctor and he prescribed antibiotics, my eye healed but still it felt very dry and sensitive. After another month it started to get red again and also I have light sensitivity, I went to another ophthalmologist and he prescribed other drops and an ointment and my eye is starting to discharge again and got very very red.

What can be causing this? And what can I do?

Answer 1

You  need to consult with the ophthalmologist who prescribed the ointment and drops.  Perhaps you are allergic to an ingredient in the medications.  If possible, tell him what other drops you were using before that first started the itching and discharge and possibly he can find a coorelation between the products.

Answer 2

Based on your description, it's a bacterium conjunctivitis.

Your fist doctor's prescription is right, the antibiotics worked. The feeling of being dry and sensitive is a normal reaction in bacterium conjunctivitis, even the symptoms ease. You should have carried on use antibiotic drops until they heal totally. The reason it start again is the bacterium haven't been killed completely, some of them remained.

The ointment is usually irritant, hence your eyes seem to be more red. However it is effective for the bacterial infection.

My advices are as below.

1. Carry on using the drops and ointment your second doctor gave you. Use them under the drug instruction or as the doc told you. DON NOT use them too frequently or overdose. I guess your eye drops overdose in the beginning make the condition worse.

2. No matter how red, how itching and how dry it is, DON NOT rub your eyes with your hands. There are too many bacterium on them, rubing your eyes will definitely harms more.

3. If you feel very itching and dry, just close it for a while to rest them. Don't use hydration drops anymore.

4. If it dosen't alleviate within one week, then stop using these the drops and ointment, go to your doctor again. Because it supposes to be better in one week generally, but if not, that means the bacterium in your eyes have gotten a antibiotic resistance. In that case, you should go to your doctor and ask for another effective drops.

5. Rest more, and don't stay up. If you have to go out, wear a sunglasses to protect your eyes from the sunlight.

You'll be OK soon. Good luck !