3. Irritation and Pain
Patients who are experiencing the onset of entropion notice that the symptoms of irritation start slowly, and exacerbate over time. In most cases, the patient may start with mild symptoms, and they may brush off the condition to having grit and their eyes, or a mild case of pink eye. However, entropion only gets worse over time, and the symptoms of irritation and pain will continue to escalate.
At this stage, many patients decide to self-medicate using eye drops to relieve the irritation symptoms. However, they end up gaining no relief from the self-treatment, and they may also notice a stinging sensation when placing eye drops into the eye. It’s at this stage that patients receive treatment from their doctor, or they run the risk of the condition becoming severe, and affecting their vision.
The pain and irritation associated with entropion may cause the patient to close their eyes throughout the day to relieve symptoms. The patient may also notice that the best eye starts to dry out quickly, and they start to depend more on eyedrops to lubricate the eyeball.