Earlier this week, my right upper eyelid swelled up enormously and became very painful, and I eventually realized that I had a small abscess several millimeters above the lid margin, on the inside surface. Because it was improving by then, I did not seek medical attention, and then my eye would get very watery every few hours, followed by a runny nose and a foul taste in my mouth (and the lashes would be stuck together overnight). I have been using hot packs, and an eyewash (and thoroughly washed and dried the eyecup afterwards).
I know what’s happening: The abscess (would it be a stye or a hordeolum?) has pointed and drained, but it’s still doing that every couple of hours even though there is now no swelling or pain. I can’t quite tell where the drainage is taking place, either.
I’ve had styes (sties?) before and they always formed a zit on my eyelid margin, and then regressed on their own.
Has this kind of thing happened to anyone else here? I’m not frightened, but it is annoying. I sure hope this doesn’t turn into a fistula; I had one of those in my mouth after a failed root canal and THAT was some nasty stuff.
Do you have insurance? I vote ophthalmologist.
I have a high-deductible plan, and I’ll give my doctor a call on Monday if it isn’t improving. The eyeball does an excellent job of keeping itself clean, and I didn’t have any conjunctivitis or I’d have made a beeline to the office, or if I saw signs that it was spreading beyond the eyelid which it didn’t. The pain was manageable with Tylenol.
Do you have any swollen glands anywhere in your head, neck or armpit on the side of the eye with the stye? Those could be a sign that the infection is originating somewhere else, even if it doesn’t seem inflamed.
Weird stuff happens. I cracked a filling once, and the day before I had any tooth pain, I had a swollen gland in my armpit. I went to the doctor, and he couldn’t figure out why I had the swelling, but decided to start me on antibiotics and have me return in three days. My backmost tooth on the same side as the armpit started to hurt the next day, and I called the dentist. It was lucky I’d gotten the antibiotics, because they totally stopped the tiny bit of infection that had started, and saved me from a root canal. Dentist had to drill out the old filling completely, plus some, so I have a hell of a filling in that tooth, but no root canal.
I’m just saying. Weird stuff can happen.
There are two things I can think of that are going to require a doctor: 1) there’s something in there-- you got something in your eye that has embedded itself in your eyelid and is irritating the eyelid, and has to be physically removed; 2) you have an primary infection someplace else that for some reason is causing this secondary infection, and until you get antibiotics to treat the primary infection, the eyelid won’t fix itself.
Nope, no swollen glands or any signs of infection except for this mucusy discharge that clouds my vision every couple of hours or so.
When I was in college, I had very severe pain in my upper molars on one side, and went to the dental school because the students would work on people at little or no cost. They held electrodes up to my teeth (which nearly sent me through the roof, a good sign) and took x-rays and couldn’t find anything wrong with me.
Cut to a week later. I had a sinus infection, and guess what? That was the very first sign, days before I had any other symptoms. Someone else later told me, “A crooked dentist could have done $2,000 of root canal work on you just for that.”
Update: Yesterday must have been the big day for that thing purging itself, because I’ve had very little drainage today. In other words, this thing is rapidly healing on its own. 
Or so I thought. While my eye is not swollen, it’s started draining again. If it doesn’t go away by Monday, to the doctor I go, or to the walk-in clinic if it gets worse in the meantime. 
Yes, please go. I get nervous when it involves eyes… The fact that has returned is a strong indicator that medications are likely in order.
A little online research indicated that what I have is not a stye or an abscess, but a chalazion, which is a cyst of a oil gland. It appears that the oil builds up and then leaks out en masse when the cyst gets too full. The procedure to remove them is done in the office but doesn’t look like something I’m uncomfortable enough to go through, at least not as it is right now.