Why is my dog's face swollen under her eye and turning purple?
Poor guy. She does have a lot of tear staining, but I don't appreciate any purple bruising there. This looks very suspicious for a tooth root abscess. If your pet is an older dog and never had a teeth cleaning, then the teeth can get really infected and cause swelling and infection through the cheek bone. If this is the case, then a short course of antibiotics will be needed, as well as extraction of the infected tooth through your vet.
Another possible cause is a localized reaction or allergy. I would highly recommend taking your pet to the vet within the next few days to have her teeth checked and to be fully assessed.
Until you can get her in to be seen, continue to give the Benadryl every 12 hrs since it did seem to help. Also you can do warm compresses on the area for 3-5 mins twice daily if it seems to be causing her pain.
I hope that your pet gets this swelling issue resolved soon! Best wishes and take care.
Updated on September 23rd, 2025