Bacterial conjunctivitis - a simple solution
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Bacterial conjunctivitis causes the rapid onset of conjunctival redness, swelling of the eyelid, and mucopurulent discharge. Typically, symptoms develop first in one eye, but may spread to the other eye within 2–5 days. Bacterial conjunctivitis due to common pyogenic bacteria causes marked grittiness/irritation and a stringy, opaque, greyish or yellowish mucopurulent discharge that may cause the lids to stick together, especially after sleep. Severe crusting of the infected eye and the surrounding skin may also occur. The gritty and/or scratchy feeling is sometimes localized enough for patients to insist they must have a foreign body in the eye. Common bacteria responsible for non-acute bacterial conjunctivitis are Staphylococci and Streptococci.
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Here again, antibiotic creams or drops are often prescribed with limited success. Often the eye heals by the infection running its course.
The quickest way to resolve this infection is to wash the eye with hot salt water every few hours as soon as the infection starts. Do not wait to ascertain whether it is viral, bacterial or because of some allergy. They all end up as bacterial infections. The infection resolves within a day or so instead of weeks.
If it does not show signs of healing within a day or two, please check it out with an optician to exclude any other pathology.
Comparison of a normal eye against the infected eye