Ocular Herpes: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments

What is ocular herpes? Is it very serious? What causes it? What could be thought as a normal eye irritation could already be caused by a virus that, if left untreated, may cause serious damage to your vision.

What Is Eye Herpes?

Perhaps you’ve heard about genital herpes and oral herpes, but not eye herpes. It doesn’t affect a lot of people compared to the two. In a year, around 500,000 suffer from it. However, it’s a contagious disease; and as modes of transmission increased, the number of affected people will also do so in the coming years.

There are two types of herpes viruses that can enter the body. The one that usually causes the genital herpes is called type 2. Type 1 is known as oral herpes since it affects the areas around the mouth.

With the ocular herpes, it’s the type 1 herpes simplex virus that causes the inflammation and the vision trouble. There are two general ways on how it’s going to happen. First the virus travels along the nerve fibers until it reaches the eyes. It replicates very fast, especially during its incubation period.

The second one is direct contact with the infected area. For example, if you accidentally or deliberately touched a person’s herpes sore and rub your eyes, you can transfer the virus to you. It’s the same thing if you use sunglasses of a person who already has eye herpes.

There are different types of ocular herpes: keratitis, iridocyclitis, and stromal keratitis. Of the three, the most common and easiest to treat is the first one. Iridocyclitis is the most severe as the inflammation already occurs in the iris and its surrounding tissues. You may suffer from light sensitivity, eye pain, and blurred vision.

Ocular Herpes Symptoms

There are general and specific signs and symptoms for herpes of the eye, depending on what kind of eye herpes infection you have. In general, though, you will feel swelling within the eye area. The swelling doesn’t have to manifest immediately as it takes some time for the virus to become more prominent. Sometimes what you’re going to feel is just the sensation.

You will also start to feel some irritation and itchiness, eye redness and sore, and tearing. In more severe cases, you will develop sensitivity to light, where you cannot clearly even in broad daylight, if not feel pain every time light gets into your eyes.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Since the symptoms can be associated with other eye problems, it’s best to consult your eye physician once you experience any or all of these symptoms. This way, you can confirm or rule out herpes in the eye.

Nevertheless, just in case it turns out to be herpes, the treatment will rely on the kind of herpes you suffer. Normally, if it’s only superficial such as affecting only the surface of the cornea, you can just utilize antiviral drops or tablets. Sometimes you may need a steroid drop. You only have to go through surgery if the deeper portions of the corner are damaged.

You can never get rid of herpes completely. Thus, strengthen your immune system to ensure that you can reduce the chances of reoccurrence.