All about Pink Eye

Pink eye is a chronic eye infection that affects large amounts of people, and particularly children. The highly contagious nature of pink eye makes it easily spread-able between school age kids, who are not the most hygienic. However, this is far from being just a children's disease. Pink eye also known as conjunctivitis, is a problem that affects millions of people in North America. There are many types of eye infections that can be mistaken for pink eye, so it becomes important to clearly understand what it is.

Conjunctivitis is defined as the inflammation of the conjunctiva, which is the outer protective layer, of the cornea. Pink eye symptoms generally include:

• Your eyes stuck together upon waking in the morning


• The feeling of sand being caught in the eye


• Red, itchy, sore eyes that may also have a sticky, gritty discharge.

Conventional treatment for pink eye has long been the use of antibiotics. However, because of the growing concerns of serious health risks that are associated with overuse of antibiotics, it has prompted the search for effective, alternative treatments. Another drawback of using antibiotics is that they only are able to treat infections, caused by bacteria. This becomes a problem since the majority of pink eye infections today, are viral in nature.

The good news is that there are many herbs that can be used both internally and externally and have been found to be effective treatment for conjunctivitis. It is important to keep in mind that both bacterial, and viral conjunctivitis, are extremely contagious, and therefore immediate treatment should be administered, and precautions taken to prevent its spread to others. This includes hand washing several times daily, and tissues should be used when coughing, or sneezing. In addition, contact with eyes should be prevented, and contact with others limited as much as possible. Chlorinated pools, contact lenses, and eye makeup, should be avoided, and the pillowcase should be changed daily until the infection has passed.

One of the best ways to prevent pink eye is to know the health conditions that can trigger it. These health conditions include but are not limited to:

• Allergies


• The common cold,


• Staph infections


• Herpes virus


• Eye injury


• Chemicals


• Animal dander


• Measles


• Prolonged exposure to sun lamps has also been known to cause conjunctivitis.

There are several other factors that can contribute to pink eye symptoms.These include:chlorine from swimming pools, smoke, dust, air pollution, and wind. A special note of caution should be extended to people who wear contact lenses.They will want to ensure there lenses are being adequately cleaned each day, if pink eye infections are recurrent.
While most pink eye is simply a symptom of one of the health conditions listed above it should be noted that chronic conjunctivitis is a serious health condition that can cause permanent damage to the eyes. If this is a persistent problem it is advised to seek help from your health care professional immediately. If the condition is persistent it can be found to be linked to having rheumatic arthritis or lupus. Your health care professional can help you determine if this is the problem.

If you do develop pink eye, it is recommended that you drink herbal teas daily, until the condition has resolved. Useful herbal teas include honeysuckle flower, chrysanthemum and bamboo leaves.In addition, it can be helpful to make sure that you are drinking at least 8 glasses of water per day to help flush toxins from the systems.There are also herbs that can be used externally to treat pink symptoms.These include:

• Marigold


• Rose petals


• Raspberry leaves


• Vervain


• Elderflowers


• Chamomile


• Marshmallow root


• Witch hazel Herbs