If you have a child, then you probably understand that kids get sick often. The vast majority of the viruses are colds, but other viral infections are common. Pink eye, or conjunctivitis, is one of them. If you notice redness in one or both of your child's eyes, then make an appointment with your family doctor right away. If you are confused about the illness, then keep reading to learn about it as well as how you can reduce your child's discomfort.
What Is Conjunctivitis?
Pink eye is a disease that affects either one or both the eyes. The illness involves the conjunctiva, which is the membrane that sits just over the surface of the eye. The conjunctiva is a clear mucous membrane that turns pink or red when it becomes infected or irritated. The red appearance comes from the swelling of the membrane as well as the inflammation of the small blood vessels that line the surface of the eye.
Conjunctivitis can be caused by a number of different viruses. The most common is the adenovirus and is most likely to infect children. Pink eye can last up to 12 days, and the condition is contagious. To help keep the condition from spreading to yourself or your family, wash your hands before preparing or eating food. Also, try to keep your hands away from your own eyes and your child's eyes.
How Is Pink Eye Treated?
Conjunctivitis, like most other viruses, is considered a self limiting disease. This means it will not have any harmful or long-term effects and it will resolve on its own. This means your family doctor may not provide any treatment. However, your child will need to be examined thoroughly. Since pink eye has several different causes, your child's eyes will be examined closely and a medical history will also be taken. This helps to determine whether the condition is caused by bacteria or a virus, because bacterial pink eye does need to be treated with antibiotics.
Viral pink eye is suspected if fluid or discharge from the eye is watery, if it accompanies a cold, and if the eyes are pink, but not incredibly swollen. Bacterial infections are noticed if discharge is milky or if the condition is present at the same time as an ear or sinus infection. Also, bacterial infections will worsen over time while viral conjunctivitis will resolve fairly quickly.
How Can You Reduce Discomfort?
In some cases, viral pink eye can be treated with anti-viral medications as well as eye drops that reduce swelling. However, most children are provided with no medication so the virus can pass on its own. While medical treatment may not be required or advised, you should help to reduce discomfort. Pink eye can cause itching, pain, blurred vision, burning, and watery eyes.
To minimize discomfort, provide your child with warm compresses throughout the day. Wet a washcloth with warm water and place it in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Place the cloth over your child's eyes for about 10 minutes. You can provide compresses a dozen or more times each day as long as your child is feeling ill. However, provide a clean cloth every time. Your child may inadvertently reinfect himself if the same cloth is used multiple times.
Antihistamines, like loratadine or cetirizine, can be provided to help reduce eye swelling and discoloration. NSAID pain relievers can minimize swelling and pain as well. Tea bags can be placed over the eyes too. Purchase chamomile, fennel, calendula, or another type of herbal tea. Wet the bags and then heat them in the microwave for a few seconds. Place them on your child's eyes for about 15 or 20 minutes or until the bags cool.
