Eye was super red and tender. urgent car doc said saw something w/blue light and was on the fence about er asap. but he gave drops for pink eye and rx for herpes. was improving but 3 days out there's a new hard swelling under eye. what could this be?

Any finding which could evolve into visual problems should require a referral to an opthalmologist. It is not possible to assess the potential problem with the information given.

The hard swelling could be a chalazion, a chronic inflammation of the meibomian glands, but this would not cause the redness and tenderness that suggests active inflammation. The Urgent Care doc is not equipped to look inside the eye, nor is the ER. Follow-up with an ophthalmologist ASAP! Proper management is critical to prevent long term eye damage.