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Home treatment will help reduce the pain of conjunctivitis and keep your eye free of drainage.
• If you wear contact lenses, remove them and wear glasses until your symptoms have cleared up.
• Cool or warm compresses can be used, whichever feels better. If an allergy is the problem, a cool compress may be more soothing. With infectious pink eye, a warm, moist compress may help reduce redness and swelling. Use a different compress for each eye, and a clean compress for each application of warmth, to prevent spreading the infection.
• Clean the eyelid margins and eyelashes gently and repeatedly with a warm, moist cloth or cotton ball. Wipe from the inside, next to the nose, towards the outside of the eye. Use a clean surface for each wipe so drainage being cleaned away is not rubbed back across the eye. Throw used wipes away. After wiping your eye, wash your hands to prevent drainage from spreading the condition.
• If a chemical substance has gone into the eye, wash the eye out immediately and copiously with water or any non-irritant fluid and phone a doctor as soon as possible for advice. Certain forms of conjunctivitis can develop into a serious condition that may harm your vision. It is therefore important to have conjunctivitis diagnosed and treated quickly.
• The ideal treatment for allergic and chemical conjunctivitis is to remove the cause of the allergy or irritation. For instance, avoid contact with animals or other environmental factors that cause an allergic reaction. Wear swimming goggles if chlorinated water irritates the eyes. In cases where these measures won’t work, prescription and over-the-counter eye drops are available to help relieve the discomfort.
Pink eye may be more serious if any one of the following applies:
• Only one eye is affected.
• Your vision is affected.
• It is very painful.
• It does not settle within three days.
• You wear contact lenses.
A doctor should evaluate conjunctivitis in an infant or toddler because additional treatments such as systemic antibiotics may be necessary.
Medication
Infectious conjunctivitis caused by bacteria is usually treated with antibiotic eye drops or ointment and usually responds within a few days. Some kinds of bacterial conjunctivitis need to be treated with oral antibiotics as well as eye drops or ointments. Be careful not to use medication prescribed for someone else, or for an old infection, as these may be inappropriate for the current infection or may have been contaminated by previous infections.
Viruses in general do not respond to antibiotics – the infection tends to run its course and resolve by being fought off by your body’s immune system. Some antibiotics may be prescribed, however, to prevent secondary bacterial infections from developing. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between bacterial and viral conjunctivitis.
To apply eye drops or ointment
• For older children and adults, pull the lower eyelid down with two fingers to form a small pouch. Put the drops or ointment there. Close the eye for a minute to prevent the medication running out of the eye.
• Ask younger children to lie down with eyes closed. For eye drops, put a drop in the inner corner of the eye. When the eye opens, the drop will run in. For ointment, pull the lower eyelid down to form a pouch in which to put the ointment. Ask the child to close his or her eyes and move the eyeball from side to side to move the drops or ointment around the eye.
In the case of allergic conjunctivitis, topical antihistamines may be prescribed. In severe cases short-term topical steroids may be considered.
