Symptoms of Eye Herpes

Eye herpes is an infection of the eye, which is also referred to as ocular herpes by health professionals. Eye herpes is caused by the Type 1 virus and can cause serious eye complications, including inflammation and scarring of the cornea. Eye herpes is a viral condition that cannot be cured and the sufferer may have outbreaks throughout her lifetime. The symptoms of eye herpes can range from mild to severe.

History

• A person will contract eye herpes by having her eye exposed to the virus by coming into contact with a person with a herpes outbreak. Eye herpes can also be self afflicted if the infected person has an outbreak on another part of his body and touches his eye. Once you have eye herpes, your outbreaks may vary and you may display a variety of symptoms.

Effects

• The most common sign of eye herpes is pain in the affected eye as well as irritation. It will likely feel as though the person has something in her eye. Given that eye herpes affects the cornea, it is also very likely the sufferer will have blurred and cloudy vision. Since these symptoms can occur in a range of other disorders, a diagnosis of eye herpes is not always easily reached.

Types

• Besides pain and cloudy vision, symptoms of eye herpes can also include excessive eye tearing, swelling around the eyes, redness, sores, discharge and light sensitivity. The patient also will prove more susceptible to eye infections. In the dormant phase, eye herpes will not produce any symptoms.

Considerations

• Your vision may also become affected if you have eye herpes. Stronger eye glasses or contact lense prescription may be required for the affected eye. This will depend on the severity of the outbreak and the site of the herpes infection.

Warning

• Eye herpes is highly contagious and when a person has symptoms, she needs to practice certain precautions to ensure that it is not spread to another person or the other eye. Always wash hands if you touch the affected eye and use prescription steroid drops provided by your doctor to help reduce the length and severity of outbreaks.