Many people will head to an urgent care center or see their primary doctor for treatment of an acute red or painful eye. The problem is that many of these healthcare facilities are not equipped to view the eye in high enough detail to make an accurate diagnosis. There are a multitude of reasons that an eye will be red or painful including but not limited to:

• dry eye
• contact lens overwear
• corneal ulcers caused by bacteria, fungus, or herpes viruses
• foreign bodies
• iritis or iridocyclitis due to idiopathic or autoimmune causes
• ocular allergies
• corneal or conjunctival abrasions
• bacterial or viral conjunctivitis
• Herpes zoster or Herpes simplex complications
• Exposure keratitis
• Neurotrophic corneal disease
• blunt force trauma
• stye/hordeolum

All of these require different treatment plans but an accurate diagnosis must be made first. Often, if treated incorrectly many of these can worsen quickly and can be devastating to a patient’s vision. As an optometrist, our doctor is trained in diagnosing and treating ocular issues beyond just prescribing glasses and contacts.

We understand that ocular emergencies can occur at any moment so we try to be available for all of our patients same day. The doctor lives locally so if there is a true emergency she can meet you in the office if needed or can triage a patient over the phone for treatment and schedule a follow up for the next business day if needed.

If you are having an ocular emergency please call or text us at 512-744-6274. We monitor this line regularly, even over the weekends. Please leave a voice-mail if you do not get an answer right away.