Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis): Symptoms,Treatments and Best Tips

Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis)

Pink eye (Conjunctivitis) describes inflammation of the conjunctiva. Conjunctiva is the clear membranous tissue or a transparent membrane that covers the white part of the eye inside of your eyelid.

 

In the Medical World “Pink eye” it actually doesn't exist it is known by Conjunctivitis.

 

Pink Eye 
Image Source- Wikipedia | Author- P33tr

During conjunctivitis the blood vessels will dilate and become bigger making the eye appear red and then these blood vessels actually leak fluid which causes the tissues to swell.

 

Pink eye is actually a very common condition that most people have at least one point in their lifetime usually as a child but even as an adult.

 

In fact, pink eye is so contagious it often spreads through classrooms, marketplaces and workplaces kind of like a bushfire.

 

Causes of pink eye: Conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis can actually cause by many different reasons including:

1. Due to Bacterial infections – Bacterial conjunctivitis.  

2. Due to Viral infections - Viral conjunctivitis.

3. Due to Allergic reactions – Allergic conjunctivitis.

4. Some of the most severe cases of conjunctivitis include:

4.1. Due to Neisseria gonorrhoeae (gonorrhea) – Gonococcal conjunctivitis.

4.2. Due to Chlamydia infection – Chlamydial conjunctivitis.

4.3. Due to Herpes simplex virus – Herpes simplex virus conjunctivitis, Ocular herpes, or herpetic eyediseases.

 

Gonorrhea is caused by a bacterium called Neisseria gonorrhoeae and it is a sexually transmitted disease.

 

Chlamydia is also a sexually transmitted infection which is more often in young women.

 

Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) is a virus that causes herpes mostly on mouth and genitals.

Symptoms of pink eye: Conjunctivitis

Now symptoms are important to know because oftentimes just by symptoms alone we can actually categorize and figure out what type of pink eye a person might actually have.

 

Symptoms of bacterial conjunctivitis have some really classic telltale signs and those signs are:

1. Red pink eye.

2. Irritated eye.

3. Swelling of the eye.

4. A kind of green mucus coming from the eye.

5. Pink eye crust that ends up kind of drying out on the eyelid and in the morning your eyelid is crusted shut and you have to clean the eyelid just to even open.

Viral conjunctivitis is by far the most common cause all cases of pink eye and it's actually caused by the same virus that causes the common cold.

 

Symptoms of viral conjunctivitis

1. Red pink eye

2. Little swollen like something might be stuck in there.

3. Instead of mucus discharge, you actually get just watery tearing eyes throughout the whole day that's actually one of the most contagious forms of pinkeye that’s why it tends to spread through the school and work so fast.

 

Symptoms of allergic conjunctivitis

1. It’s mostly in both eyes.

2. Itching sensation of the eye.

3. Burning sensation of the eyes.

4. Oftentimes present with more things like you know sneezing, coughing, and a running nose.

Now the vision is usually not severely affected in cases of a pink eye unless it converts to something called keratitis and that actually includes inflammation and possible infection of the cornea which is the clear window surface to the eye.

 

Most cases of keratitis usually present during infections from people who abuse contact lenses or from people who have a nasty type of virus infection called EKC stands for Epidemic Kerato Conjunctivitis which is a very nasty variant form of just a viral infection.

 

 

How do you get rid of pink eye?

 

1. The reality is that if you have a pink eye or maybe one of your family members does. It's actually best to take them in to see the eye doctor because your eye doctor has both the tools and the training to appropriately make the right diagnosis and prescribe the appropriate treatment.

 

2. In cases of bacterial conjunctivitis, most eye doctors do prescribe an antibiotic because well it's a bacterial infection and antibiotics work great.

 

3. In cases of viral conjunctivitis prescribing antibiotics doesn't really help because viruses don't respond to antibiotics so the only option left to treat the symptoms which means using cold compresses and artificial tears.

 

4. Some doctors do prescribe steroid eye drops in these cases however that's debated in the medical world because steroids although help to relieve the symptoms of the eye they actually can prolong the infectious period of that virus.

 

5. Another treatment is betadine wash to help relieve the symptoms and maybe shorten the infectious period.

 

6. Some eye doctors prescribe antihistamine eye drops along with maybe some oral antihistamine medication or maybe some other type of things like cold compresses.

Again some types of pink eye are really nasty like gonorrhea, chlamydia and the herpes simplex virus actually can cause permanent scarring on the eye and that can lead to permanent vision loss so please if you're having some type of a pink eye, it's best not to chance it make sure you see your eye doctor get the appropriate diagnosis and the best treatment for you.

 

4 Effective Tips: Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis)

1. Pink eye is extremely contagious so please make sure you wash your hands frequently along with maybe wiping things down that are commonly used around the house with either bleach or some sort of antibacterial wipe that means including doorknobs, children's toys any sort of cupboard handles.

 

2. Make sure you wash your pillowcases because the seepage from the eye could end up getting on the pillowcase and that can just spread you know to the other eye.

 

3. If your use makeup wear makes sure that you throw your makeup away because that could be actually contaminating into your makeup and then you again just give it to yourself.

 

4. If you're a contact lens where don't wear your contacts if you have any sort of suspected infection or red-eye and then once everything is resolved when you go back to contacts.

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