Conjunctivitis, more commonly known as pink eye, is certainly no fun. A bad case of pink eye will leave your eye (or both eyes), red, swollen, sensitive to light and in pain. In addition, pink eye is highly contagious, so if you share close quarters with someone else, you have to take extra precautions to make sure that it doesn’t spread. You will want to treat your pink eye right away. If you have never had pink eye before, here is a look at common symptoms of this eye infection.

Viral Conjunctivitis
There are generally two types of pink eye that you have to look out for—one is viral conjunctivitis and the other is bacterial. Both kinds have similar symptoms, but they may be treated differently. Both kinds will show signs of redness to the white part of the eye and watering or tearing will be present. In both instances, you have to look out for yellow or green discharge in varying degrees. With viral conjunctivitis, it is very common to have discharge from the eye as well as watery eyes. This is the most common symptom of this type of pink eye. Patients with this form of pink eye will also find that their eyes will feel itchy or uncomfortable. Most of the time with the viral form, the infection will be contained to one eye, but this is not always the case.

Bacterial Conjunctivitis
The most common symptom of this type of pink eye is watery eyes and varying degrees of greenish to yellowish discharge. This can cause matting and if you wake up in the morning with your eyelids “glued” shut, then you may have pink eye caused by bacteria. Also present will be itching, burning, stinging and a general discomfort.

If you think you may have pink eye, do not hesitate to see your doctor for help.