Question
I have had something stuck in my eye for abou 4 or 5 months. It doesn't bother me constantly, and it seems to only act up at night. The pain jolts me out of bed at least once or twice a night now, and it sometimes takes up to an hour to get rid of it. When it happens I can hardly open my eye. I keep thinking I got it out of my eye, but then it just happens again. I am very concerned that it will act up while I'm driving and I won't be able to open my eye because of the pain.
Answer
You must see an eye doctor. There could actually be something tucked up under your eyelid that you cannot find to get it out. But more likely - you may have corneal erosion. This starts when there is an injury - or a scratchy particle in your eye - and the top layer of cells on the cornea is broken. Just under this layer are many, many nerve endings that cause a lot of pain if they are disturbed. Once that top layer of cells, called the epithelium, is broken, it can heal pretty fast, but it may not heal as completely or as strong as it should be. Then, the slightest little disturbance, such as your eye getting a little dry at night, can make that top layer of cells break open again and stop protecting the nerve endings that lie under it, hence the pain. An eye doctor can treat the recurrent corneal erosion if that is what you have. If you do not treat it promptly, it may become much harder to treat over time.
