Treating Pink Eye with a Bit of Green

We’ve all been there, either as a child, as a parent or as a patient ourselves. You wake up one morning and find a bit of goo oozing from your eye. The eye is pink and maybe itchy. After cleansing the eye thoroughly, you wash your hands (after all, you don’t want to spread those germs) and determine to remain home that day. If it is your child, they are granted a sick day, after all, the schools usually forbid students with anything contagious, especially something oozing and contagious, from attending class. With a sigh, knowing that there is no other choice, you pick up the phone and call the doctor, knowing a prescription of antibiotic eye drops is in your immediate future.

It is a standard routine for pink eye, or conjunctivitis, which is repeated in thousands of household across the country every year. It’s a routine that most of us don’t question, after all we would not want our child to infect other children and if a prescription is necessary to clear up the infection, well certainly we will take the drops. But now that approach is being challenged by some in the medical field and a newer “greener” alternative being recommended.

A few weeks ago, my daughter woke up with a pink oozing eye. Like most other parents, I called our pediatrician and got her a morning appointment. But I was surprised when the doctor recommended no treatment. I left the office with no drops, no prescription, and if it weren’t summer, she would have received an OK to return to the classroom. Most oozing eye conditions clear up on their own, without a prescription,” my doctor told me. “We even encourage them to go back to school, even when the eye has discharge.”

Although any case of eye oozing, discharge or discoloration should be examined by a medical professional, most are caused by either a virus or an allergy, conditions in which antibacterial eye drops are useless in fighting. Some cases are caused by bacteria, but even those can clear up on their own, without prescription drops. “In most cases, antibacterial eye drops are prescribed to make the parents feel better, not the child,” my doctor said.

Overprescribing antibiotics is considered a public health risk and a risk to the environment as it can lead to the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on its website says that most cases of viral conjunctivitis are mild, last only about 3 to 5 days and generally clears up on its own. In some cases, the infection can take up to three weeks to clear up. Bacterial infections can also clear up on without treatment.

So what are some of the green, all natural ways for treating the symptoms of pink eye? Simply keeping the eye clean, by washing it with warm water, helps to relieve much of the irritation. A cold compress of tea bags, placed over affected eye also provides some comfort. The CDC, on its website says that artificial tears and cold packs may be used to relieve the dryness and swelling and may be purchased in stores without a doctor’s prescription.

Sources:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, visited 8/9/10; http://www.cdc.gov/conjunctivitis/about/treatment.html