Childhood Maladies
Kids and Pinkeye
Childhood Maladies Kids and Pinkeye The medical term for Pinkeye is conjunctivitis but most people use the term “pinkeye”.
If your child develops pinkeye their eye (s) are likely going to be red, swollen and itchy! They may even have a little gooey liquid discharge coming from the eye as well.
Pinkeye is very contagious and can be spread very easily.
In some cases, only one eye will be affected, but in most cases both eyes will be affected. It’s not painful but the itching can be maddening.
It may feel much like when you get an eyelash in your eye or a tiny dirty particle. If your child gets infected with Pinkeye it will likely last for about a week and in many cases will go away by itself.
However, if the itching is really bad you should treat it with some medicine. Some children will develop an ear infection as well because they have spread the bacteria in their ear.
What Causes Pinkeye?
Pinkeye is caused by a bacterium or a virus. The virus that can cause Pinkeye is often also responsible for causing a cold. It’s spread by touching so when a child or infected person rubs their eye and then you happen to touch their hand you can also become infected.
This means the parents or other family members can become infected as well. The best prevention is to wash your hands frequently with some warm water and anti-bacterial soap.
Pinkeye can also be caused by allergies or because of irritating foreign body in the eyes. Pinkeye that is caused this way isn’t contagious.
Treatment
A doctor should be consulted if the itchiness is very irritating. The doctor will examine the eyes for redness and see if there is any discharge.
If the pink eye is the result of bacterial infection, the doctor will prescribe antibiotic eye ointment or drops.
Normally infants will be given an eye ointment, but older children and adults will be given eye drops. The drops or ointment should be administered 4-5 times a day for about seven days. The treatment should be continued until you get rid of the infection completely.
If Pinkeye is caused by a virus, then antibiotics will not be of any help. If the infection is caused by allergies the doctor can prescribe special eye drops to treat the symptoms.
Warm water is another way to relief the itching. Be sure to put any washcloths you used to treat pinkeye directly into the laundry so that you don’t spread it to other family members.
Childhood Maladies $7
Regards, Coyalita
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