How To Cure Red Eye Quickly

Pink eye, officially known as conjunctivitis, is a medical condition that causes discomfort to the eyes due to allergies or infections. Your body can heal pink eye on its own, but you can also take steps to help speed up the healing process, depending on the cause of your pink eye. Here are a few things you can learn to get rid of pink eye quickly.

Table of Contents

Pinkeye Basics

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Determine the cause of pink eye. Conjunctivitis can be caused by viruses, bacteria, and allergies. Usually, pink eye will cause the eye to become red, watery, and itchy, but other symptoms of pink eye will vary depending on the cause. ^{[1] X Research Source}

The virus can affect one eye or both eyes, and can make a person’s eyes sensitive to light. Viral conjunctivitis is highly contagious and difficult to treat. It usually takes time to clear up on its own, and that can last from one to three weeks. The best way to treat viral conjunctivitis is to prevent complications that may arise. ^{[2] X Research Source}
Bacterial conjunctivitis causes discharge from the eye, which is usually yellow or green, and usually appears at the base of the eye. In severe cases, mucus will cause the eyelids to stick together. It can affect one eye or both eyes, and bacterial conjunctivitis is contagious. To be able to treat bacterial conjunctivitis, you should see your doctor. You can reduce symptoms of the disease with home remedies, but antibiotics will help shorten the incubation period.
Allergic conjunctivitis is often accompanied by other allergic symptoms, including a stuffy and runny nose, and both eyes become infected. This form of conjunctivitis will not spread. Allergic conjunctivitis can usually be treated at home, but patients with severe allergic symptoms need medical treatment to get better quickly.

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Need to know when to see a doctor. It’s not a bad idea to go to the doctor for pink eye, as your doctor will give you helpful advice on what to do. You should see your doctor if your pink eye is accompanied by other serious symptoms. ^{[3] X Trusted Source Centers for Disease Contrp and Prevention Go to source}

See your doctor if you have moderate or severe eye pain or if your vision is impaired and these symptoms do not improve after you have cleared the mucus from your eye.
If pinkeye causes your eyes to darken or turn a deep red, you need to see a doctor as soon as possible.
See your doctor right away if you suspect you have a serious form of viral conjunctivitis, such as that caused by the herpes simplex virus, or if you are immunocompromised due to HIV infection or experience certain cancer treatment.
See your doctor if antibiotics don’t improve bacterial conjunctivitis after 24 hours.

Treating Conjunctivitis At Home

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Use allergy medication. If you have mild allergic conjunctivitis, common allergy medications can help clear up your symptoms within hours to days. If your symptoms don’t go away quickly, you may have bacterial or viral conjunctivitis.

Use antihistamines. The body responds to allergens by producing a chemical called histamine, which is responsible for red eyes and other allergy symptoms. Antihistamines will reduce or completely block the amount of histamine produced by the body, thereby helping to prevent pink eye symptoms. ^{[4] X Research Sources}
Use a decongestant. While decongestants won’t help you combat the effects of your allergens, they will help control inflammation in your eye tissue.

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Regularly clean the infected eye area. ^{[5] X Research Source} Whenever your eye starts to drain, wipe it off to prevent bacteria from causing pus.

Wipe the eyes starting from the position of the innermost eye socket, right next to the nose. Gently wipe the entire eye in an upward direction towards the outer corner of the eye. This will safely remove mucus from your tear ducts and from your eyes.
Wash your hands before and after wiping your eyes.
Wipe the eye with a clean paper surface to prevent fluid from getting back into the eye.
Immediately throw away tissues or disposable eye wipes. Place the washcloth in the laundry basket immediately after use.

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Use over-the-counter eye drops. ^{[6] X Research Source} “Artificial tears” can help ease symptoms and help you wash your eyes.

Most common eye drops are mild saline-based lubricating solutions used to replace tears. Eye drops can relieve dry eyes caused by pink eye, and they can also help clear the eyes of dirt that can perpetuate symptoms of viral, bacterial, or allergic conjunctivitis.
Some over-the-counter eye drops also contain antihistamines, which are very effective in treating allergic conjunctivitis.

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Apply cold or warm compress. Soak a soft, clean, dirt-free towel in the water. Squeeze the towel to remove excess water, close your eyes, and gently press the towel against your eyes.

Cold compresses are great for treating allergic conjunctivitis, but warm compresses will make you more comfortable and reduce swelling associated with viral or bacterial conjunctivitis.
Remember that warm compresses can increase the risk of infection in the remaining eye area, so you should change the gauze after each use and use different pads for each eye.

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Remove contact lenses. If you use contact lenses, you will need to remove them for pinkeye. Contact lenses can irritate the eyes, make complications worse, and can trap bacteria that cause conjunctivitis in the eye.

Throw away disposable contact lenses if you use them while you have bacterial or viral conjunctivitis.
You should thoroughly clean reusable contact lenses before reusing them.

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Prevent infection. Viral and bacterial conjunctivitis are highly contagious, and after you’ve recovered from the illness, you can still get it again if it has spread to other members of your household.

Do not touch your eyes. If you have accidentally touched your eyes or face with your hands, wash your hands immediately afterwards. In addition, you should also wash your hands after using eye medications.
Change clean towels every day. During your infection, you should change your pillowcase every day.
Do not let others share items that have ever touched your eyes. These items include eye drops, towels, sheets, eye cosmetics, contact lenses, solution for contact lenses or glasses cases, or handkerchiefs.
Do not use cosmetics on your eyes until you are completely cured because these cosmetics can re-infect you. If you’ve ever used any cosmetic for pink eye, throw it away.
Take a break from school or work for a few days. Most patients with viral conjunctivitis can return to school or work in 3 to 5 days, when symptoms have improved. Most people infected with bacterial conjunctivitis can go to school or work after symptoms have gone or 24 hours after using antibiotics to treat the disease.

Using Prescription Drugs

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Use prescription eye drops. While common eye drops can be effective for people with pinkeye, prescription eye drops are stronger medications and can help you get better faster.

Treat bacterial conjunctivitis with antibiotic eye drops. ^{[7] X Source of Research} Antibiotic eye drops are a topical treatment by directly attacking pathogenic bacteria. The medication should help clear up the infection after a few days, however, you should notice an improvement after the first 24 hours. Follow your doctor’s instructions when using these medications.
Treatment of allergic conjunctivitis with antihistamine or steroid eye drops. Although you can find some over-the-counter antihistamine eye drops, stronger varieties are only available with a prescription. Sometimes severe allergic conditions can also be treated with steroid eye drops.

Advice

After starting antibiotic treatment, you should stay home for at least 24 hours. Pink eye is very contagious and you need to minimize the risk of infection.
If you have pink eye, don’t rub your eyes because that will cause the eyes to swell, the skin to peel and the result to be dark circles on the eyes.

Things you need

Over-the-counter allergy medicine
Regular eye drops
Soft face towels, tissues, or disposable eye wipes
Prescription eye drops
Prescription eye drops
Antiviral drugs

Steps

Pinkeye Basics

Treating Conjunctivitis At Home

Using Prescription Drugs

Advice

Things you need

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