There’s nothing worse than waking up and finding out that your eye is matted shut. That is, unless, it is your child’s eye that’s matted shut. This horrible discovery is one reason it’s great to know home remedies for pink eye.
What Is Pink Eye and What Causes It?
Conjunctivitis, more commonly known as pink eye, can have several causes. The three most common types of pink eye are:
- Viral Pink Eye
- Bacterial Conjunctivitis
- Allergic Pink Eye
Except for pink eye caused by allergies, all conjunctivitis is contagious. If you wake up with pink eye, even when using remedies for conjunctivitis, you should avoid contact with other people.
If the natural remedies for pink eye are not clearing it up, you may need to see a physician for prescription medication.
Best Home Remedies For Pink Eye
There are several things that you can do at your home if someone comes down with pink eye.
Early in the morning, when your eye is matted shut, the best way to get rid of pink eye is to use a hot compress. The warm compress can be soaked in Epson salt to reduce the swelling. Place the warm compress over the infected eye and wait about 15 minutes.
Once you can open your eye, you can get a new cloth and wipe the discharge away from your eye.
The wiping motion should start at the inside of the eye next to the nose then go out towards the ear. Because of the infectious nature of conjunctivitis, you should use a clean cloth for each wipe.
Often conjunctivitis is associated with a change of seasons and is caused by allergies.
One of the best natural remedies for pink eye is the use of antihistamines. Most of you know, that over-the-counter medications are not all-natural.
But honey, especially locally sourced honey, can be an excellent antihistamine. Over time it helps build up a natural tolerance to local allergens.
If you are already taking local honey, and you still have conjunctivitis you may want to try and over-the-counter allergy medicine like Zyrtec, Claritin, Benadryl.
You should never give your child any medication unless you have talked to their doctor, or it is on the label of the medicine.
Long before the invention of antibiotic ointment people used colloidal silver as a way to treat eye irritation.
Many people used the silver in infants to improve common newborn eye infections.
Colloidal Silver is one of the conjunctivitis remedies that you may not feel comfortable with using unless you’ve talked to a doctor.
A lot of people do not like to use this type of eye drop on their children without talking to their doctor. Once approved it is a great all-natural remedy for pink eye.
Sometimes conjunctivitis can be a form of yeast infection. The best cure for yeast infection in the eye can be the use of probiotics.
Simply ingesting probiotics can be all that is necessary to increase the healthy bacteria to help fight off a yeast infection. Some people take the probiotic liquid found on top of yogurt or Keefer and drop of this directly into their eye.
I have never done this because I don’t like putting things into my eyes, it freaks me out. But I have used the probiotics to clear up a yeast infection in my eye, and it worked.
One of the best home remedies for pink eye has more to do with how your daily living occurs than what you’re using to treat conjunctivitis.
Pink eye is a very contagious condition and can re-infect if there isn’t proper hygiene. So, how can you use home health habits to get rid of pink eye?
Change Your Pillowcase Daily
The bacteria of pink eye can linger on fabrics.
So even if you’re using the best home remedies for conjunctivitis and you’re not changing your sheets, you can be causing the pink eye to rebuild overnight by sleeping on the infected pillowcase.
The best way to overcome this obstacle when treating pink eye is to change your pillowcase nightly.
Shower Before Bed
Showering before bed ensures that you have cleaned all of the discharge away from the eye.
If you’re like me, and you don’t like going to bed with wet hair, and you need to make sure that you wash your face with mild soap and water before you go to sleep, be sure to use a clean cloth when drying your eye and launder the cloth when done.
Using fresh linens ensures that you’re not going to re-infect your eye.
After reading these home remedies for pink eye, which ones have you used and which ones work best for you?