Pink Eye: Treatment, Procedure, Cost and Side Effects

Conjunctivitis

Pink eye or conjunctivitis is a very common infection and affects almost every individual at least once in his/her life. The inflammation of the membrane which covers the white area of the eyes and also the membrane on the inner part of the eyelids gets affected when the areas come in contact with a range of viruses or bacteria. Pink eye can be either infectious or non-infectious as well. This condition can be easily treated at home or you can consult a doctor if you think is required. The treatment may require you to not wear contact lenses and even throw out the disposable ones if you wear them. Cleaning your eyelids with a wet cloth and using warm and cold compression daily several times can also help reduce the inflammation.

Pink eye does not take more than two or three weeks to clear up on its own. However, certain natural remedies can help you get rid of it faster. Aloe Vera gel or Neem oil can help you tolerate the inflammation until it goes away on its own. This extremely contagious infection can cause redness, itching, swelling and even a slight white drainage coming from the eye.

Pink eye can be either treated naturally at home or you may consult a doctor. The infection usually goes away on its own within maximum two or three weeks. However, you may use certain treatments in order to make the condition less disturbing. You can depend on various over the counter pink eye medicine like naphazoline. For home remedies you can try using green tea which contains bioflavonoids which helps in reducing inflammation and irritation in the affected eye. Other products like Aloe Vera gel, turmeric, tulsi, neem oil and colloidal silver can also be used.

When you consult a doctor, he/she may usually recommend using artificial tears, and clean the eyelids with wet cloth to help reduce the irritation. You will also be suggested to not wear contact lenses if you do, or throw away the disposable ones as they might be already infected. If you are a person who wears eye makeup, then you should dispose the makeup worn before the illness. Antibiotic eye drops are usually not required as antibiotics usually do not work on viral conjunctivitis and may even do more harm than good. Antiviral medications may also be suggested by doctors if the conjunctivitis is determined to be caused by the herpes simplex virus.

Any individual who sees signs and symptoms like earache, eye discharge, eye redness and pain, itching or puss drainage from the eyes, swollen lymph nodes among others should get themselves immediately checked.

People who do not show any sign of having an infection in their eyes should avoid getting the treatment done.

Using an antibiotic eye drop can have side effects as it may not work on the viral kind of conjunctivitis and can also be harmful as they reduce its effectiveness when required in the future. It may also cause a medication reaction.

Patients need to be very careful about not exposing their eyes to dust and bacteria. Apart from that, you need to be sure of not rubbing or irritating ypour eyes for a couple of days after the infection is gone.

A period of two to three weeks is required for the infection to be completely cured.

Each eye drop which is used for curing the infection is around Rs 40 but can also go up to Rs 100.

The results are permanant, however, an infected person can get conjunctivitis again if exposed to the same bacteria or virus.