What is conjunctivitis?
Lining your eyelids and covering the whites of your eye is a membrane called the conjunctiva. When the blood vessels in this thin and sensitive tissue become inflamed, it’s called conjunctivitis, which can lead to:
Pink or red eyes
- Severe itchiness
- Burning
- Discharge
- Watery eyes
One of the more frustrating symptoms of conjunctivitis is the feeling that there’s something in your eye even when there isn’t.
What are the most common types of conjunctivitis?
Conjunctivitis is a broad term for a number of conditions that cause the same reaction, including:
Viral conjunctivitis
This form of the condition typically accompanies a cold or flu and is temporary, but highly contagious.
Bacterial conjunctivitis
This form of pinkeye is also easily passed from one person to the next and often comes on with a respiratory infection.
Allergic conjunctivitis
This type of conjunctivitis is often a chronic condition caused by irritants, such as pollen or dust mites. In this category are several types of allergic conjunctivitis, including:
- Seasonal allergic conjunctivitis
- Perennial allergic conjunctivitis
- Vernal conjunctivitis
- Atopic keratoconjunctivitis, which is associated with eczema and atopic dermatitis
- Giant papillary conjunctivitis, which occurs in people who wear contact lenses
At the practice of Raphael E. Rosenbaum, MD, the team handles all types of conjunctivitis, helping you find relief from the discomfort or even helping preserve your vision in more extreme cases.
How is conjunctivitis treated?
Once Dr. Rosenbaum or another member of the team identifies the source of your conjunctivitis, they develop a treatment plan. With bacterial and viral conjunctivitis, a topical ointment or ophthalmic drop is usually sufficient in remedying this temporary condition.
If, however, you have chronic problems with conjunctivitis, your doctor typically turns to a mast cell stabilizer antihistamine ophthalmic eye drop. In more resistant cases, your doctor might employ a short course of topical steroids or an oral antihistamine, and in some rare cases, may even use oral steroids and immunosuppressive therapy
But these measures typically only address the symptoms of your conjunctivitis. For longer-term solutions, your doctor may recommend that you work with an allergist to desensitize your body against the irritant. And if you have giant papillary conjunctivitis, you should expect to go on a contact lens holiday.
If you’re struggling with vernal conjunctivitis or atopic keratoconjunctivitis, you may benefit from local or systemic immunosuppressive therapy.
For expert management of your conjunctivitis, call Raphael E. Rosenbaum, MD, or request an appointment at one of the four locations using the online scheduling feature.
