Pink Eye Symptoms & Contact Lenses| Causes | How to treat

UnderStanding Pink Eye Symptoms & Contact Lenses

Pink eye, also known as conjunctivitis, is an inflammation of the conjunctiva. Conjunctivitis literally means "inflammation of the conjunctiva". The conjunctiva is a thin membrane containing tiny blood vessels and produces mucus to coat and lubricate the surface of your eye. When the conjunctiva becomes irritated or inflamed, the blood vessels become larger and more prominent, making your eye appear red.

Conjunctivitis may occur in one or both eyes. Conjunctivitis can cause swelling, itching, burning, discharge and redness of the protective membrane that lines the eyelids and covers exposed areas of the white of the eye.

The conjunctiva is a thin membrane that covers the whites of your eyes by coating it in a mucus to lubricate the surface, helping to protect it. Pink eye can be caused by a number of things from bacteria, viruses, allergies to other environmental irritants. Regardless of the cause it can be extremely contagious. Symptoms usually include red eye, itchiness, a scratching and/or burning feeling.

Different Causes of Pink Eye Symptoms

It occurs when our conjunctiva is inflamed due to infection. (If you're like me and don't know what conjunctiva means at first, it's the part where your eyeball and eyelids meet). The three most common forms of pink eye are viral, allergic and bacterial.

When this happens, your eyes appear red, watery and you also feel irritated. Sometimes, your eyes may feel itchy as well.

Causes of pink eye which, for contact lens wearers, can be:

• Use of extended wear contact lenses. Bacteria can build up underneath lenses that have been in the eye for long periods of time.
• Poor hygiene. Failure to wash hands properly before inserting or removing lenses, or laziness when it comes to changing your contact lens solution, can all cause eye infections, as bacteria gets into the eye and onto the lens. 
• Trying to save money by NOT changing disposable lenses after the required time period can also result in pink eye. This is as much due to eye irritation initially, but an itchy eye can soon become an infected one if you don't listen to your body and throw away those lenses as soon as your eyes begin to itch.
• Allergies can, of course, affect contact lens wearers who may be susceptible to high levels of pollen or a windy day may just blow grit into your eyes, resulting in red swollen eyes. 

How to treat Pink Eye Symptoms Naturally & Other Ways to treat it.

The best tip I can offer as a contact lens wearer for avoiding pink eye symptoms, is to ALWAYS change your disposable lenses according to the maximum wear time. Don't try and save money by wearing those daily disposables for an extra day or two or extend your 1 week lenses to 2 weeks.

• Put damp herbal teabags like chamomile or elder-flower (after they have been used to make tea) onto the eyelids and lie down for half an hour. 
• Place a tablespoon of chamomile flowers in a cup of boiling water, infuse the solution for 10 minutes, remove the petals, and then allow the solution to cool. It makes a great cooling eye-wash that really helps to relieve pink eye. 
• Soak some cotton wool pads in warm milk that has first been boiled to kill any bacteria that may be present. Pop them onto your eyelids and lie down for half an hour to let the compress soothe your eyes.

Only the bacterial causes of pink eye can be treated with antibiotics. If it is a bacterial irritant that has caused your symptoms there is usually puss present. Viral and other causes will most often clear up on their own without damaging your eyes, however it is always recommended to see an ophthalmologist to confirm your symptoms.

While severe bacterial forms of conjunctivitis or pink eye need to be treated with antibacterial eye creams or eye drops, sometimes, you just can't get to a chemist or an eye doctor, or your eyes may be so swollen and painful, you don't want to go out or you simply cannot drive.