Pinkeye

Home Treatment

Home treatment for pinkeye will help reduce your pain and keep your eye free of drainage. If you wear contacts, remove them and wear glasses until your symptoms have gone away completely. Thoroughly clean your contacts and storage case.

Cold compresses or warm compresses (whichever feels best) can be used. If an allergy is the problem, a cool compress may feel better. If the pinkeye is caused by an infection, a warm, moist compress may soothe your eye and help reduce redness and swelling. Warm, moist compresses can spread infection from one eye to the other. Use a different compress for each eye, and use a clean compress for each application.

When cleaning your eye, wipe from the inside (next to the nose) toward the outside. Use a clean surface for each wipe so that drainage being cleaned away is not rubbed back across the eye. If tissues or wipes are used, make sure they are put in the trash and not allowed to sit around. If washcloths are used to clean the eye, put them in the laundry right away so that no one else picks them up or uses them. After wiping your eye, wash your hands to prevent the pinkeye from spreading.

After pinkeye has been diagnosed:

• Take steps to prevent the spread of pinkeye by following the instructions in the Prevention section of this topic.
• Do not go to day care or school or go to work until pinkeye has improved.
  • If the pinkeye is caused by a virus, the person can usually return to day care, school, or work when symptoms begin to improve, typically in 3 to 5 days. Medicines are not usually used to treat viral pinkeye, so preventing its spread is important. Home treatment of the symptoms will help you feel more comfortable while the infection goes away.
  • If the pinkeye is caused by bacteria, the person can usually return to day care, school, or work after the infection has been treated for 24 hours with an antibiotic and symptoms are improving. Prescription antibiotic treatment usually kills the bacteria that cause pinkeye.
• Use medicine as directed. Medicine may include eyedrops and eye ointment. See a picture of inserting eyedrops or inserting eye ointment.

  Eye problems: Using eyedrops and eye ointments

For pinkeye related to allergies, antihistamines may help relieve your symptoms.

Symptoms to Watch For During Home Treatment

Use the Check Your Symptoms section to evaluate your symptoms if any of the following occur during home treatment:

• Decreased or blurred vision develops and it doesn't clear with blinking.
• Eye pain lasts for more than 24 hours or eye pain increases.
• Sensitivity to light (photophobia) develops.
• Signs of an infection develop.
• Symptoms become more severe or frequent.

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Author:	Jan Nissl, RN, BS	Last Updated: December 6, 2007
Medical Review:	William M. Green, MD - Emergency Medicine Christopher J. Rudnisky, MD, FRCSC - Ophthalmology
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