"I keep getting pink eye"
if you are a contact lens wearer and your eyes get red/irritated/itchy/watery/goopy/blurry...and the symptoms lighten up or go away when you stop wearing contacts, and the symptoms progressively worsen with contacts on...
thats not "pink eye".
many, many people come in telling us they "caught pink eye again" or they "get pink eye all the time". they're not catching contagious viral or bacterial "pink eye" repeatedly. rather, those patients almost always have some type of contact lens related inflammatory problem, the most common of which IMO is "GPC" or giant papillary conjunctivitis which i have blogged about repeatedly:
http://myeyepod.blogspot.com/2009/06/gpc.html
treatment from our office (highly successful treatment, might add) usually involves a short course of anti-inflammatory (steroid) eye drops and a switch to a different type of contact lens, usually dailies b/c they're thin & low modulus (stiffness).
any red eye warrants a visit. but frequently these patients tell these symptoms to their primary care provider (not their optometrist) and invariably the PCP Rx's antibiotics for "pink eye".
thats not "pink eye".
many, many people come in telling us they "caught pink eye again" or they "get pink eye all the time". they're not catching contagious viral or bacterial "pink eye" repeatedly. rather, those patients almost always have some type of contact lens related inflammatory problem, the most common of which IMO is "GPC" or giant papillary conjunctivitis which i have blogged about repeatedly:
http://myeyepod.blogspot.com/2009/06/gpc.html
treatment from our office (highly successful treatment, might add) usually involves a short course of anti-inflammatory (steroid) eye drops and a switch to a different type of contact lens, usually dailies b/c they're thin & low modulus (stiffness).
any red eye warrants a visit. but frequently these patients tell these symptoms to their primary care provider (not their optometrist) and invariably the PCP Rx's antibiotics for "pink eye".
Okay Dr. Pee - I wanted to get your opinion on an old wives' remedy for pink eye. Breastmilk. I've used my own on my own kids in the past. It works. What are your thoughts, besides the "ewww" factor?
ReplyDeletewive's tale is exactly that in this case. i wouldnt put any milk from anywhere in any eye.
ReplyDeleteHi i have that problem too. Getting "pinkeye" and all. I've stayed off lens but something ia still bothering me.
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I wore dailies. All was fine. But at night I started rubbing ym eyes and I woke up with the White part of my eye swollen. Like a bubble. I've gotten it before so I know it will subside. It's Friday now, the White bubble on the eye is gone, but the White part of my eye still seems to be a bit loose. Like when I roll my eyes to the side I noticed my White part of the eye fold up a bit. Has it been expanded bythe bubble?
yeah you can think of it that way. there's fluid under there. i call this "loose" conjunctiva & its usually a sign of seasonal allergies
ReplyDelete