Acute red eye

Overview

Every year, there are a lot of people who go to the hospital because of the red eye. In most cases, the problem is not a serious one and a primary case setting conjunctivitis is the cause of the problem. It is only a small number of red eye cases which need proper medical attention and are considered to be serious. The problem that most people occur is that they do not know whether their red eye problem is serious or not. However, people can learn more about the problem and then they will be able to make a better diagnosis.

People should know that there are many ways to classify the red eye problem, but the best way of doing so is by determining whether the problems is connected with pain or not. The doctors will check visual acuity of both eyes of the patient to see whether there is impairment or not.

Assessment of the red eye

History When a person goes to the hospital, he or she will need to know the time and speed of the onset, ocular associations like blurry vision or photophobia, systemic associations like headaches, nausea or a rash to the forehead and what the fellow eye is up to in order for the doctor to make a proper diagnosis more easily. Past ocular history is important as well. This means any previous similar episodes, lazy eye, previously worn contact lenses and such. Social history is also good to know.

Examination

Visual acuity needs to be recorded and a proper anatomical examination needs to be performed. A person should also check the reaction of the pupils. If there are no obvious ocular causes that lead to red eye, a person should consider potential systemic causes and a full physical examination. People need to know that scleritis is in some cases connected with connective tissue disease. Most common of these diseases are rheumatoid arthritis, gout, syphilis and in rare cases tuberculosis, sarcoidosis and hypertension. In case of scleritis, the condition occurs due to an inflammation of the full thickness of the sclera. Endophthalmitis is also possible and in most cases it occurs postoperatively. The non-acute red eye

This condition is also possible and some of the most common adnexial causes are blepharitis, floppy eyelid syndrome, canaliculitis and acne rosacea. Conjunctivitis causes include medication toxicity, injected pnguecula and some other causes. People should know that there are some other corneal causes that lead to red eye condition.