How to Treat Pink Eye
Pink eye is a slang term for conjunctivitis and is a very common problem that occurs in the eye. Pink eye normally causes a number of negative side effects, including irritation, pain and trouble with light sensitivity. To tell if you have pink eye you will normally notice a pink or reddish tinge to the eye. Puffiness around the eye, discharge coming from the eye and lots of uncontrollable watering. If you’ve experienced these symptoms you may be wondering how to treat pink eye.
How to Treat Conjunctivitis
There are actually three different types of pink eye, so knowing how to treat conjunctivitis can be tricky. Some pinkeye can be cured and others cannot. The three different types are viral conjunctivitis, bacterial conjunctivitis and allergies conjunctivitis.
Viral Conjunctivitis: This viral type of conjunctivitis can sadly not currently be cured. Some GPs will still prescribe antibiotics if there is some doubt of over the exact form of conjunctivitis. Sadly there is no quick fix. All you can do to treat viral conjunctivitis is to follow a few sanitary steps and just wait for it to resolve itself naturally.
Bacterial Conjunctivitis: Conjunctivitis which is caused by bacteria can be treated. Doctors tend to prescribe antibiotics for this that will encourage the conjunctivitis to leave the eye within a much shorter period of time than if it is simply left to heal on its own accord.
Allergic Conjunctivitis: Conjunctivitis caused by allergies again is hard to cure if the original allergy is still present. Common causes include smoke and pollen and your best bet is to try and stay away from anything that could have caused the conjunctivitis to form. Someone suffering from allergic conjunctivitis is able to treat it with eye drops which tend to reduce the duration of the infection as well as aiding the swelling to go reduce.
How to Treat Pink Eye
Now that we have gone through the three types of conjunctivitis and how to treat pink eye, we will look at how to stop the infection from getting worse. A few general steps can be followed regarding pink eye to help minimize the infection.
Don’t Rub:When you have pink eye the eye is incredibly irritated and itchy. Succumbing to temptation, however, and itching will simply make the infection worse and the eye more inflamed. Try to resist the urge to itch your eye by doing whatever is necessary. Resisting the urge to itch will mean pink eye will go away much quicker.
Wash your eye: One of the less pleasant side effects of pink eye is unwanted discharge from the eye. If this discharge is left untreated it can cause extreme irritation and impede your vision. Make sure you wash the discharge away regularly with a washcloth. Ensure that the washcloth itself is cleaned straight after use to prevent spread of the infection. Keeping the eye clean will reduce irritation and make sure you don’t worsen the conjunctivitis.
Wash everything: Conjunctivitis has a nasty habit of staying around from all the discharge that is created. A good way of addressing this is to ensure you wash everything as frequently as possible. This includes bed sheets, clothes and anything else that your face may come in contact with. Washing these things will help deter the spread of the infection spread and aid the recovery process.
Do not wear contacts: Many people with glasses and contacts get conjunctivitis. Make sure that if you do wear contacts and you have conjunctivitis you stop wearing them while the eye heals. Wearing contacts will typically make the infection much worse. By swapping your contacts for glasses you should fix this problem. Make sure you clean your glasses regularly if you find any discharge is getting on them.
Chuck away any makeup applicators: One of the most common ways to get pink eye is from using an infected makeup product. Any sort of makeup that involves applying anything near to the eye should be thrown away and replaced. This includes all mascara brushes as well as eye shadow applicators. The more your replace the less likely you are to let the infection spread. You should also refrain from putting on any makeup while the infection is active. Do not let any friends borrow your makeup either because this is a recipe for spreading the infection quickly.
Eye drops: You can actually get eye drops to treat pink eye from the local pharmacy. This is usually quite well priced and will reduce the irritation. Your body is still leading the charge in the fight against the conjunctivitis but your eyes will feel a lot less painful during the process. It will also prevent you from prolonging the illness by constantly scratching because the irritation will be reduced.
Stay Rested: Conjunctivitis goes away because your body has successfully fought the infection. Try and keep rested during this period and avoid stressful activity. Going out on a night out to town is not a good way to help your body fight the infection. Staying in, resting well and generally relaxing for a few days not only helps your body; it also stops other people from being in danger of catching the conjunctivitis from you. And don’t forget, the more it spreads the more likely you are to re-catch it again.
Conjunctivitis is an unpleasant experience for anyone and sometimes we cannot help catching it. Make sure you take the right steps to prevent it from happening again. Usually the infection will pass naturally but if you find that the infection persists make sure you contact your local GP. Whatever you do, do not treat the infection as a joke as if not confronted it could cause serious long term damage to your eye.