Treatment For Conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis is an infection of the membrane that lies beneath the eyelids and covers the entire eyeball. This infection causes the membrane to get inflamed, causing redness around the eyeball, which gives the condition its common name, “pink eye”. The most common symptoms of this condition are swelling of the eyelids, a painful, burning sensation in the eye, unclear vision, dryness and itchiness in the eye, and an occasional sticky discharge from the eye(s). Conjunctivitis is a highly contagious disease, so the patient must be not come into close contact with others. You must also take care to wash articles of personal use like towels and clothes that might have come into contact with the infected eye. Do not touch or squeeze your eyes with your fingers, as this might worsen the infection. Chlorinated water is sometimes responsible for conjunctivitis, so if you go swimming regularly, use water goggles to prevent this infection. You should use a ball of soft cotton wool dipped in boiled water to clean the discharge that gets accumulated along the eyelids. You could also use a clean washcloth heated gently over a bowl of hot water and use this as a compress on your eyes for about 10 minutes three or four times a day. This provides relief from the pain and itch and heals the eye naturally.

A few simple home remedies can cure conjunctivitis. Vitamin A is greatly helpful in preventing this infection and in healing the eye naturally if it is already infected. Eat lots of spinach, parsley and yams to supply your body with this essential nutrient. Applying thin slices of raw potato is also helpful in remedying the swelling caused by conjunctivitis. Another natural agent that helps cure conjunctivitis is fennel. Use the seeds of this herb in your food, or its leaves in salads. Alternatively, you could also boil fennel seeds in a pot of water and drink this tea everyday to treat conjunctivitis. Washing the eye frequently with fennel tea, once it has cooled, also helps cure the infection. You may also mix ¼ tablespoon of baking soda in half a cup of water and use this as an eye wash. Unprocessed honey has antibacterial and antibiotic properties, so applying a drop of honey twice a day directly into the eye or mixing honey in boiling water and then using it as an eyewash once it cools down are also effective ways of treating conjunctivitis.