Thygeson’s Punctate Keratitis

Impressive sounding, isn’t it? And I have it. Have had it rather…it’s a chronic problem I’ve been dealing with for the past few years. Thygeson’s keratitis amounts to small scratches on the cornea of my eye. I found a few other definitions that sound far more impressive though. Such as:

Thygeson’s disease is an eye condition named after Phillips Thygeson, an American physician born in 1903. It is now more commonly known as punctate epithelial keratitis or superficial punctate keratitis. It is a type of inflammation of the cornea.

Epithelial?! I am going to make it my mission to use that word in a sentence this week… right after I find out what it means. Oh, but there’s more!

This problem appears as fine, scattered areas of loss of epithelium from the cornea – the clear part of the surface of the eye. The lesions appear punctate (looking like dots or points) but sometimes can appear dendritic (linear and branching).

Superficial punctate keratitis is uncommon and not communicable. Characteristically, there is no residual scarring and long-term vision problems are rare.

Yay! No long-term vision problems! It’s still annoying for the sole reason that my eye doctor tells me I can’t wear contacts for weeks at a time while the latest batch of lesions clears up. And I have to self-administer some eye drops four times a day. Some stuff called Lotemax. I’m slightly worried that it says, “Shake well before using.” I guess it makes sense, but the fact that my eye drops and spray paint have something in common is a little weird. Ah well.