Publication date Sep 11, 2007
If your eyes look red and feel gritty, you may have conjunctivitis. You should see your doctor, pharmacist or optician, because it can occasionally be a sign of a more serious problem.
Conjunctivitis is an infection of your conjunctiva, the thin surface that covers the inside of your eyelids and the whites of your eyes.
Conjunctivitis can be caused by bacteria or viruses, although lots of things (including dust, sand and pollen) can also irritate your eyes. If it's caused by bacteria, you'll wake up with crusty eyelids. This is caused by pus coming from your eyes while you sleep.
Conjunctivitis caused by viruses or bacteria spreads easily from person to person. It's common among school children. Adults are more likely to get it if they have very dry eyes.
Usually, conjunctivitis clears up on its own after a few days. But occasionally it can be a sign of more serious eye problems, such as glaucoma, or an infection in your eyelid. (If you have glaucoma, the pressure in your eye gets too high.)
Symptoms of conjunctivitis include watery, red or sore eyes. Your eyes may feel gritty and irritated, stinging or burning. If you also have white or yellow pus coming from your eyes, which causes crusts on your eyelids while you sleep, you probably have a bacterial infection.
Your eyes may also itch. This could be a sign of a viral infection. If you get several attacks in a short space of time, your symptoms might be caused by an allergy. If you get conjunctivitis symptoms every year at the same time, it's probably because of an allergy.
You should see a doctor straight away if you have pain inside your eye, there is any sudden change in your vision, or light makes your eyes hurt. These may be signs of a more serious problem.
If you wear contact lenses and you get the symptoms of conjunctivitis, take your contact lenses out and see your doctor. Conjunctivitis needs to be treated quickly if you wear contact lenses. This is because it can cause a more serious eye infection called keratitis.
You should see a doctor straight away if your baby has the symptoms of conjunctivitis. Some bacteria that cause conjunctivitis can cause other serious infections in babies.
Doctors don't often do tests to find out what causes conjunctivitis. The problem usually clears up before the test results would have come back. Some doctors treat everyone with conjunctivitis with antibiotic eye-drops or ointment. Other doctors treat conjunctivitis with antibiotics only if they think it's caused by bacteria.
Conjunctivitis often clears up on its own. But if you have conjunctivitis that's caused by bacteria, ointments or drops that contain antibiotics can help get rid of it more quickly.
If you have conjunctivitis caused by an allergy, your doctor can prescribe eye-drops containing cromolyn sodium or medicines called antihistamines. These eye-drops are also occasionally used to treat conjunctivitis that's caused by a virus. We haven't looked at these treatments in detail here.
Antibiotics are drugs that attack bacteria. If you have conjunctivitis, you put antibiotics into your eyes as drops or an ointment.
Two common antibiotics used for conjunctivitis are chloramphenicol (which comes as eye-drops and ointment) and fusidic acid (brand name Fucithalmic eye-drops). You can buy chloramphenicol (Optrex Infected Eye) from chemists. For fusidic acid, you need a prescription.
To use eye-drops, gently pull down your lower eyelid to catch the drops. Keep your eye closed for one or two minutes afterwards. If you use an ointment, put it in your eyes the same way. Check with the doctor or pharmacist about how often you should use the drops or ointment, and for how long.
If you wear contact lenses, you need to ask your pharmacist, doctor or optician about what treatment to use and whether you need to leave your lenses out during treatment. You should avoid ointments. Some eye-drops shouldn't be used with soft (hydrogel) contact lenses.
If you wear disposable contact lenses, you should throw away the set of lenses and the lens case you were using. If you keep them you might get the same infection again. If you wear lenses that aren't disposable, ask your optician about what to do with them.
People with bacterial conjunctivitis who use antibiotic eye-drops or ointment usually recover more quickly than people who don't.
Antibiotics can cause mild side effects. They can make your eyes sting for a short time.
If you have conjunctivitis, there are things you can do to help your symptoms and stop other people catching the infection.
Hold a clean cloth soaked in warm water to your eyes (keep them closed). Don't let anyone else use this cloth.
Wash your hands often and don't share towels or pillows.
If you think you have conjunctivitis because of an allergy, try to find out what causes the allergy, so you can try to stay away from it.
Nearly 2 in 3 people who have conjunctivitis recover completely in two to five days without needing any treatment. It's rare for an infection to cause serious problems.
This information does not replace medical advice. If you are concerned you might have a medical problem please ask your Boots pharmacy team in your local Boots store, or see your doctor.
© BMJ Publishing Group Limited ("BMJ Group") 2007. All rights reserved
This information does not replace medical advice.
If you are concerned you might have a medical problem please ask your Boots pharmacy team in your local Boots store, or see your doctor.