1. Visual Symptoms of Eye Herpes
When diagnosing eye herpes, a doctor can begin his diagnosis by completing a visual examination of the infected eye. Eye herpes is very noticeable in most patients. The symptoms of eye herpes include swelling in and around the eye, watery eyes, irritation, reoccurring infections, redness, eye sores, foreign body sensation, sensitivity to light and air, and a watery discharge. The patient can tell the doctor about these symptoms and how long and how frequent they have been occurring and a doctor can begin to diagnose eye herpes from this point.
2. Slit Lamp Examination
Once the doctor suspects eye herpes, he will then perform a test known as the slit lamp examination. In this test, the doctor will insert some eye drops into the patient's eyes. The eye drops will highlight the infectious areas around the cornea, lens, iris and other parts of the eyes. A lighted microscope with very high magnification is then used to look into the eye. The slit lamp examination will allow the doctor to see the extent of the infection in the eye because the infection will be tinted. Also with this test, the doctor will be able to see any other damage that is taking place inside the eye as a result of the eye herpes.
3. The Questionnaire
A doctor will be able to make a diagnosis based on the information you provide him. If you tell him that you have been in close contact with a person who is infected with eye herpes or another form of herpes, he will suspect that you also have the disease. Eye herpes is very contagious and is easily passed from one patient to another. He may also ask you questions about your symptoms and life style. All of this can play a factor in if you are at risk of eye herpes.
4. The Simple Lab Tests
A doctor can make a diagnosis of eye herpes based on the results of lab tests. The doctor can take some sample swabs of the infected area of the eye and have it sent to the lab for analysis. The lab results will show what type of infection is in the eye and to what degree the infection is affecting the eye. A doctor may also perform a blood test as part of his diagnosing phase. One can determine a lot of information from a patient's blood. In the blood test, the blood is taken from the patient's arm and sent to the lab for analysis.
