Being an integral and all-important part of our body—our daily lives, even—it’s only natural that we get to know the many illnesses that can afflict our eyes so we not only know how to handle them, but also how to prevent them. One such eye illness is conjunctivitis, more commonly known as pink eye.
Seeing Red—Conjunctiva under Attack!
It’s called conjunctivitis because it’s an illness that afflicts the conjunctiva, a thin membrane covering between the eyeball and the eyelid. Think back and you might remember it being discussed in human anatomy in class. The conjunctiva gets inflamed due to an infection caused by one of six reasons: either viruses or bacteria, foreign objects, scratched eye (which in itself is an eye illness of sorts), allergies, or plugged tear ducts. The most common culprits when it comes to pink eye though, are viral and bacterial eye infection.
Symptoms of Viral or Bacterial Conjunctivitis
These two types of pink eye are the most common because they are highly contagious. Contact with eye drainage or the tears of someone with either bacterial or viral conjunctivitis can easily lead to it spreading.
The usual symptoms are red and swollen eyes, feeling like there’s something in the eyes, itchiness, and drainage or too much tears. The main difference from which you can delineate viral from bacterial conjunctivitis is that the one caused by viruses doesn’t have as much drainage and crusting around the eyes. Treatment for pink eye depends on what caused it, though typical home remedies include artificial tears, observing proper hygiene to prevent spreading the condition, and keeping the eye clean.
Treatment for Pink Eye Caused by Viruses and Bacteria
Bacterial conjunctivitis, being caused by bacteria, can easily be dealt with by antibiotic eye drops. The antibiotic, if applied properly and in the right doses, would kill the bacteria and relieve symptoms of bacterial eye infection. Normally, after 24 to 48 hours, the person afflicted with the infection can start going about daily activities normally.
Viral eye infections though, are a different matter. Normal remedies to alleviate the symptoms still apply, but antibiotics will not be able to kill viruses. What’s best is to keep the eye area clean and sanitized, keep applying warm compress or eye drops or whatever takes the symptoms away, and prevent the viruses from spreading. With continued treatment, viral conjunctivitis will go away after a week or so.
More Severe Cases
Conjunctivitis caused by scratched eye or people with particular conditions who are then observed to show symptoms of pink eye are at risk for complications and more serious dangers. Scratched eye is a whole different matter, and you should consult a physician for it. Meanwhile, people who wear contacts, have vision only in one eye, and have immune system dysfunction or impairments are also at heightened risk.
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