so how do you get rid of pink eye? well in
this video I'm gonna share with you
three must know facts about pink eye and
conjunctivitis
Plus stay tuned toward the end for some
extra bonus tips and ways you can
prevent this nasty contagious disease
from spreading
let's take a look hey everyone and
welcome I am dr. Joseph Allen here at
doctor eye health the channel helps to
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also remember at any point throughout
the video I always include additional
information and links in the description
below in case I forget to mention
anything so pink eye is actually a very
common condition that most people have
at least one point in their lifetime
usually as a child but even as an adult
in fact pinkeye is so contagious it
often spreads through classrooms and
workplaces kind of like a brush fire now
the first thing you need to know is that
pinkeye actually doesn't exist in the
medical world we call it a
conjunctivitis and that describes
inflammation of the conjunctiva which is
the clear membranous tissue that covers
the white part of the eye and the inside
of your eyelids during the
conjunctivitis the blood vessels will
dilate and become bigger making the eye
appear red and then these blood vessels
actually leak fluid which causes the
tissues to swell conjunctivitis can
actually cause by many different reasons
including bacterial infections viral
infections allergic reactions and many
others some of the most severe cases of
conjunctivitis include causes from
gonorrhea chlamydia or the herpes
simplex virus now the second thing you
need to know about pink eye are the
symptoms because oftentimes just by
symptoms alone we can actually
categorize and figure out what type of
pinkeye you might actually have know a
bacterial conjunctivitis has some really
classic telltale signs of course the
eyes can be red pink you're gonna have
irritated and kind of that swelling of
the eye but you often will have pus that
kind of green mucus coming from the eye
in fact you'll actually get that very
classic pink eye crust that ends up kind
of drying out on the eyelid you know the
kind that you wake up and your eyelid is
crusted shut and you kind of have to
like clean the eyelid just to even open
it yeah that's probably bacterial now
compare that to the symptoms of a viral
conjunctivitis which if you didn't know
viral conjunctivitis is by far the most
common cause
all cases of pink eye and it's actually
caused by the same virus that causes the
common cold if you just learn something
smash that like button
but viral conjunctivitis often presents
again with that red pink eye that feels a
little swollen like something might be
stuck in there but often instead of kind
of that mucous discharge you actually
get just watery tearing eyes throughout
the whole day and that's really
frustrating because those tears that are
coming on all day you try to wipe those
away and that's actually one of the most
contagious forms of pinkeye that are out
there hence why it's tends to spread
through school and work so fast
however allergic conjunctivitis is often
not just one eye it's actually usually
both eyes and it's associated with more
that itching burning sensation of the
eyes and oftentimes presents with more
things like you know sneezing and
coughing and a running nose now vision
is usually not severely effected in
cases of pink eye unless it converts to
something called a keratitis
and that actually includes inflammation
and possible infection of the cornea
which is the clear window surface to the
eye most cases of keratitis usually
present during infections from people
who abuse contact lenses or from people
who have a nasty type of virus infection
called ekc which stands for epidemic
keratoconjunctivitis which is a very
nasty variant form of just a viral
infection but thankfully now we actually
have a tool in the clinic that actually
lets us test for those specific virulent
strains of viruses that can cause
pinkeye and know it kind of looks like a
pregnancy test but really we just take a
sample of the tears run it for about ten
minutes and boom there we know if you
have that nasty type of virus tip number
three how do you get rid of pinkeye well
the reality is that if you have a
pinkeye or maybe one of your family
members does it's actually best to take
them in to see the eye doctor because
your eye doctor has both the tools and
the training to appropriately make the
right diagnosis and prescribe the
appropriate treatment in cases of
bacterial conjunctivitis we often do
prescribe an antibiotic because well
it's a bacterial infection and
antibiotics work great in cases of viral
conjunctivitis there's really not much
we can do prescribing antibiotics
doesn't really help because viruses
don't respond to antibiotics so really
we just treat the symptoms which means
using cold compresses artificial tears
they make you more comfortable some
doctors do prescribe steroid eyedrops in
these cases however that's debated in
med
because steroids although they help
relieve the symptoms of the eye they
actually can prolong the infectious
period of that virus so yeah sometimes
it's not the best idea thankfully there
are some offices that offer an office
space treatment or like a betadine wash
to help relieve the symptoms and maybe
shorten the infectious period that's
something that not every clinical work
does but yeah you can always look into
that in cases of allergic conjunctivitis
we often prescribe antihistamine
eyedrops along with maybe some oral
antihistamine medication or maybe some
other type of things like cold
compresses as well I have done a whole
other video on allergic conjunctivitis
and eyedrops for allergies if you'd like
to check that out I'll hook that up here
in the YouTube card above as well as in
the description below again some types
of pinkeye are really nasty like
gonorrhea chlamydia and the herpes
simplex virus actually can cause
permanent scarring on the eye and that
can lead to permanent vision loss so
please if you're having some type of
pinkeye it's best not to chance it make
sure you see your eye doctor get the
appropriate diagnosis and the best
treatment for you even if it's just to
be safe you only get two eyes so please
take care of them now a few extra bonus
tips for you because he stayed toward
the end pinkeye is extremely contagious
so please make sure you wash your hands
frequently along with maybe wiping
things down that are commonly used
around the house with either bleach or
some sorta antibacterial wipes that
means including like doorknobs
children's toys any sort of cupboard
handles I actually make sure I wash the
keyboard my cell phone how often have
you cleaned your cell phone I even
cleaned my pens after I see a patient
with pinkeye in the clinic also don't
share towels at home make sure you wash
your pillow cases because the seepage
from your eye could end up getting on
the pillowcase and that can just spread
you know to the other eye and if your
makeup wear make sure that you throw
your makeup away because that could be
actually contaminating into your makeup
and then you and again just give it to
yourself again and if you're a contact
lens where don't wear your contacts if
you have any sort of suspected infection
or red eye and then once everything is
resolved when you go back to contacts
make sure you put in a fresh pair
contacts are known to harbor some of the
nastiest bacteria and viruses that cause
high infections so eye health question
today when is the last time you had a
pinkeye was a bacterial or viral go
ahead and comment in the section below
I'd love to hear from you
or other one thanks
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again this is dr. Joe Allen here from
doctor eye health the channel helps you with
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