Understanding Conjunctivitis - Treatment

How Do I Know If I Have It?

Your doctor will look for the characteristic symptoms and may take a swab of the discharge to send to the laboratory to determine the cause.  Often, the cause can be determined by your symptoms, your medical history, and the eye exam findings.  Most of the time medical treatment is initiated right away while lab results are pending, called empiric treatment.  Treatment is then modified based on the results of lab studies.

What Are the Treatments?

Traditionally, at-home remedies have been sufficient for soothing conjunctivitis associated with uncomplicated colds, minor infections, or allergies.  Treatment consists primarily of cleansing the eyes and preventing the condition from spreading.

To relieve discomfort of bacterial or viral conjunctivitis, apply a warm compress for 5 to 10 minutes, three to four times a day. Preservative-free artificial tears can be frequently applied.  Never use steroid eye drops without a doctor's prescription.

For allergic conjunctivitis, place a cool compress on your closed eye and use nonprescription eye drops to relieve itching and burning. If the condition does not improve in three days, consult your doctor. 

Viral conjunctivitis usually runs its course in one to two weeks. Because it is not caused by bacteria, viral conjunctivitis does not respond to antibiotics.  Artificial tears will also help relieve symptoms.

Conjunctivitis caused by the herpes virus may be treated with antiviral eye drops or ointment.

For bacterial conjunctivitis, the treatment will probably call for antibiotic eye drops or ointment. This generally clears the symptoms within a few days. Be sure to complete the full course of antibiotic therapy.  For more stubborn cases, an oral antibiotic may be prescribed. Oral antibiotics are routinely prescribed for conjunctivitis caused by gonorrhea or chlamydia.  Sexual partners are also treated.

Allergic conjunctivitis should respond to topic vasoconstrictors, antihistamines, or steroid eye drops.  Repeating an earlier warning, you should never apply steroid drops for any eye symptoms without a doctor's prescription.

If your conjunctivitis symptoms do not appear to be associated with a cold or allergy, you may want to see your primary care provider or local eye doctor for a more comprehensive evaluation.