Woke up this morning to eyes redder than normal. Well, your eyes do get infections caused by bacteria, fungi or viruses.
Eye infections can cause trouble in different parts of your eye, or may only affect just one eye or both. Symptoms of eye infections include:
- pain
- itching
- redness
- swelling
- discharge
- problems with vision
Two most common types of eye infections are:
- stye ~ bump on eyelid that happens when bacteria from your skin get into eyelash hair follicle
- conjunctivitis, aka pink eye ~ often due to an infection or inflammation; children frequently get this contagious infection
Contagious conjunctivitis is commonly spread by touching the tears of an infected person and then touching your own eyes, or contact with upper respiratory tract infections from a cough or a sneeze. This is a great reason to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze.
Treatment depends on the cause of the infection and may include:
- creams
- eye drops
- antibiotics
- warm compress
Don’t automatically assume all “red” or “pink” eye means an infection is present. Healthy strained eyes have a tendency to redden as well.
