Any tried and true pink eye remidies?
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
United States
January 22, 2011 9:01am CST
I think my oldest has pink eye. And of course with it being Saturday we can't very well go to the Dr. However, I also don't have the means even after insurnace to pay for urgent care or a walk-in clinic as it is a substantial difference in cost between the regular Dr co-pay and clinics. I was told though by another parent her Mom used to just let it run its course. SO I thought other than toughing it out and maybe some warm compresses if there are any other ways to ease things til Monday?
2 people like this
10 responses
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
22 Jan 11
Well, they say that it can clear up in 3 days or so, so by the time Monday comes it might be better. Use the warm cloth for the crud and keep the eyes clean. You might call up your pharmacist and see if there is any OTC remedy. My doc always gave my mom ointment for my eyes. For all I know, it could have been something like Neosporin--but I know Neosporin is NOT for use in eyes!
If it hurts or her vision is affected you might have to go to urgent care anyway. I hope she feels better soon.
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@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
22 Jan 11
I hope so. She just took a bath and I had her wash the crud away w/ a wash cloth a few times.
She looks better but hard to say. I have her clear eyes last night because her one eye was very red / blood shot looking in the corner and it's fine now. Just the crust came this morning.
Plus you know last time I went to urgent care (a few yrs back) the script for eye drops was like $70!!! + the co-pay wich of course has since doubled. Yeah can't afford even pink eye w/ insurance isn't that awful? But if I get it thru the Dr's office on monday it'll be I'm sure under $30 for everything.
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@cynthiann (18612)
• Jamaica
22 Jan 11
You must be careful not to infect the other eye. Wipe from corner of eye near the nose and clean then throw away the cotton or whatever you used. Use another piece of cotton to clean the other eye. otherwise if yo use the same cloth - whatever- all you would be doing in reinfecting the eye.
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@GardenGerty (169505)
• United States
23 Jan 11
cynthiann, that is a point I was going to make. One wipe only per cotton ball. Inside to outside.
@phr4nkr4wk5 (167)
• United States
23 Jan 11
I had a quick (about 2-3 day) case of pink eye a few weeks ago.... I don't know for sure if what I'm about to tell you helped it go away faster, but I'll share what I did anyway. I read about this home remedy online by the way... apparently someone's Sicilian grandmother used to do it to them. Get a fresh lemon, squeeze out some juice. Dilute it with water... I can't remember the exact proportions, but I suppose you should just make sure the mixture consists of more than 1/2 water, less than 1/2 lemon juice. 50-50 might still be too strong. Then, get a paper towel, and soak a corner in the lemon juice mixture. After doing so, dab a bit on the eyelashes and blink, so as to allow some to get in your eyeballs... obviously, this will likely sting some... just bear the pain, I think you'll share my opinion that this temporary sensation is much better than suffering pink eye for a week -__- Another thing I did was use baby shampoo in a similar fashion, just dab a bit above the eyes while in the shower, and kinda blink... Make sure you let the lemon juice (or shampoo) sit for a while, or it may not do its job of disinfecting very well. Remember to use baby shampoo... the tears-free kind.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (169505)
• United States
23 Jan 11
The lemon juice might be okay, and it might work because it is concentrated source of vitamin C. A horrible thing that I know of was a mom who had kids at Head Start where I worked. She went to a health food store for a certain herbal remedy, and they were out. Someone told her to put honey in her baby's eyes. That actually gave the baby an eye infection. I also had a friend whose kids kept getting "pink eye" and the doctor kept sending out a prescription for the kids, she had three that were getting it over and over. It turned out the kids were allergic to the medicine.
@phr4nkr4wk5 (167)
• United States
23 Jan 11
Oh... that really is quite horrible. I wonder if that reaction to the honey had something to do with babies under the age of 12 months not being able to consume honey without being exposed to a little danger from the risk of botulism. That.. that's one of the dangers of modern medicine. So chemical, artificial, and so complicated at times. Who knows when someone will randomly respond negatively, whether severely or not so severely, to a chemical cocktail full of strange man-made substances...
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
22 Jan 11
There is an over the counter medicine I tried once when my eye was infected. It made the infection go away temporarily.. though as it turns out, I did not have pink eye. I had ulcers on my cornea caused by my contacts, and the ulcers were infected.
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@savypat (20216)
• United States
22 Jan 11
You can get an herbal cure at the store, the warm wet compresses are good and help clear the eyes if they are stuck closed. Pink eye is just the symptom of eye irritation, it can have several causes. Important to keep hands away from eyes and to be very careful, it may be easy to transfer and the whole family can get it.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
26 Jan 11
Well, it is way after Monday now, so I'm sorry that I wasn't able to answer your questions earlier. The last time that one of my children came down with pink eye was on the evening of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I called the on-call number for our pediatrician's office and they actually went ahead and called in a prescription for me to treat the pink eye in my son and that worked out very well. However, there are also over the counter pink eye remedies that you can buy at the pharmacy that work just as well as the prescription stuff that you could try next time to save the cost of a walk in clinic co-pay.
@hardworkinggurl (37062)
• United States
22 Jan 11
It has been a while since I have dealt with pink eye. But I checked the net and as I suspected, and others reponded. Warm compresses and some lubricated tear drops usually clears it up.
As per the article I read says 3 -4 days and it should be cleared. I hope so sooner though as this has to be irritating for her.
Here is the article I read:
http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/conjunctivitis.htm
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@ElicBxn (64170)
• United States
23 Jan 11
warm compresses, but make sure you keep everything really clean, and have you oldest wash their hands - a LOT! Make sure you wash anything that touches it with HOT water and bleach if you can.
Make sure that you keep any surface cleaned so the other's don't get it.
yuk
Had it twice, its the PITS!
@Nadinest1 (2016)
• Canada
22 Jan 11
Poly Sporin eye and ear drops.
This is available here in Canada, but not sure about the US.
Go to the pharmacy and ask the pharmacist.....most pink eye infections are healed with over the counter remedies.
Good luck.
@sender621 (14889)
• United States
23 Jan 11
I kinow there are eyedrops we can take to clear up pinkeye that we can get from the pharmacy. They are drops that need a doctor's prescription to get. I don't know of anything else that will clear up pinkeye except time. @titchy1231 (732)
•
23 Jan 11
im sorry but i dont know what pink eye is. if your are that worried you can ring the nhs and they would put you through to the out of hours doctors.
