Questions About Pink Eye
There are a lot of eye conditions that aren't controllable. However, conjunctivitis, which is also known as pink eye, is something that you can often prevent. You don't have to get pink eye, but if you do, then you want to know what it is and what you can do about it. Here is information on pink eye that you want to read.
What is pink eye?
Pink eye is an infection that affects your eye's conjunctiva; this is the part that covers and protects your eye's white part and it also lines your eyelid. It can also be caused by an allergic reaction in some cases. The reason why pink eye does, in fact, cause your eye to become pink is that the conjunctiva has blood vessels that are visible when inflamed, as they are when you have pink eye.
How do you get pink eye?
Allergic reactions that cause pink eye are caused by coming in contact with something that your body has a bad reaction to. These things include things like mold, pollen, or other types of allergies you have that include seasonal ones. An injury to the eye can also cause you to get pink eye.
Bacterial and viral infections are some of the most common causes of pink eye. Pink eye is contagious, and this means you can catch it from other people and you can also pass it on to other people. In fact, pink eye is considered to be very contagious.
If you have a school-aged child who has pink eye, then you want to keep them home from school until they see the eye doctor and alert the child's school so they can inform the parents in your child's class to watch them for signs of pink eye.
How is pink eye spread?
Some of the ways people can pass pink eye on to someone else include sharing makeup, touching contaminated items and not washing hands right after, using the same towel as an infected person, or doing anything else that causes the germ from being transferred from them to you through contact of the person or items.
How is pink eye treated?
If your pink eye is caused by an allergic reaction, then you'll want to remove the allergens and take an antihistamine. You'll also want to use eye drops for comfort and apply warm and/or cold compresses to your eye(s) to help with discomfort and inflammation. If it is caused by an injury, then you want to go to the eye doctor to have the injury treated and follow their exact instructions.
If it is caused by a viral infection, then you will likely be given eye drops and be instructed to use warm and/or cold compresses on your eye. You may also be given antiviral medication if the eye doctor feels a certain type of virus, such as a herpes virus.
If you have pink eye caused by a bacterial infection, then the eye doctor will likely provide you with antibiotic eye drops or eye ointment, and they might even give you a prescription for oral antibiotics.