Pink Eye

Angi,

You can get Similasan Pink Eye Relief at Walgreens, Target or any other pharmacy until you get into the doctor's office. When a kid has pink eye which is very contagious, you have to be careful so the child does not spread to another child or person in the family. I also wash my kid's eyes with herbal tea very gentle every time he feels discomfort or his eyes itch too much, the one you prepare to have just a cup of tea, just take a little of that tea and add some less than warm water and with a cotton ball you put it on his eyes and clean very gentle (a different cotton ball for each eye). My mom used to do that for me, and it worked wonderfully like a reliever. You use that with those eye drops from Similasan.
I hope this helps!!
Alejandra

A.,

I know you are not suppose to use someone else medication. But I have 3 kids and one came down with it last year and then the other two came down with it 2 weeks later. I used my daughter's eye drops that the doctor prescribed for the other two. If it was anything else I would not have used it.

Whatever you do DON'T use your husbands medicine on your son. Eye things are soooo very contagious. Warm wash cloths are about all that you can really do, and be careful with those make sure that they go straight into the wash, and handwashing is critical, or you will end up with it too. Take Care and Good Luck, and try to have a Happy Moms Day anyway!

Hi, A.,

Pink eye, like any infection, will go away in it's due course. Though you don't need the antibiotic to solve the problem, it does make it go away faster. The problem you must watch for is reinfection, spreading it to the other eye, potential injury to the eye, or spreading it to the rest of the family. This can all be prevented with proper hygiene practices.

So, start off by making sure that everything is kept very clean. This includes everything your son and husband touches or puts their face onto. Do not let him touch his face and be sure that everyone washes their hands often. Break out the Lysol spray...this stuff is HIGHLY contagious.

For relief from the itching, swelling, and pussy eye, put a wrung-out hot wash cloth on his eye. Get all of the yucky stuff out of the edges where the tear ducts are and try to keep it as clean as possible. It may also help the itch to buy a bottle of saline solution (found in the contact lens section of the pharmacy, but ONLY get saline...no "multipurpose solutions") and use it to flush out the eye. Put the bottle into some warm water to bring it to body temperature so it isn't a shock for him when you put it into his eye. Also, if you aren't able to get the pus out of the very corner of the eye, try swiping the inner lid and corner with a Q-Tip wetted with saline solution. That usually does the trick.

It is likely that he will wake up in the morning with his eye encrusted with dried pus...DO NOT let him rub it off or pick it off as this can damage his eye if bits of dried pus get inside...again, use that nice warm, wet wash cloth to soak the stuff off and gently wipe away, then flush with the saline to get any smaller bits out. If his eye ends up being scratched while it is already infected, you risk a secondary infection of the iris, which can cause permanent damage to the cornea.

Hopefully this will clear up quickly and easily...I've found that if I use the hot wash cloths several times a day for about 3 days the infection usually clears up on its own with no medical intervention.

Hope this helps!!!

hmmm. i would go to urgent care and get medicated eye drops for it, personally. warm wash cloths to get the gunk out but they need gentamycin or tobramycin eye drops to really fix it. lots of hand washing...it's very contagious!

Call their exchange. Even though it's not too serious, it is very uncomfortable and can spread like wild fire. Since your husband has it they may just call in an Rx.
Good Luck!

You can take him to the treat and release at the hospital. They'll give you a prescription there. Or, you could call the oncall dr who is covering for your reg dr this weekend. They may be able to prescribe something.

Hope that helps,
J.

I have a sister who worked with eye doctors. . . . pink eye is just a form of a cold in the eye (which is contagious). Her recommendation, which has worked for me in the past, is putting a little bit of tearless shampoo on a cotton ball and "washing" the child'e eye area -- especially the eye lashes. This really works. Use a clean cotton ball for each eye. I did this at the first site of the infection and it works -- also works for after the infection set in. Try it! Less expensive that dr visit. Let me know if this worked for you!!!

Jo Ruiz

Both of my boys have had it. I'm not sure if the medication is the same strength for adults & children. I wouldn't use your husbands meds. on your child. Call the hospital & ask for the dr. on call. They can call a perscription into your pharmacy.

God Bless!

Go to the drug store and look for some borack acid drops that will help.

I'm glad you got a response. An rememedy some of my older relatives told me about is putting a little sugar and mix it with water and put it on the eyelid when they are asleep and it's gone the next day. It works.

Wash cloths with cool water laid on the eyes should make it more comfortable. Make sure to launder with hot water and bleach to kill any bacteria. Use a different wash cloth each time you do this.

they have pink eye relief drops over the counter at walgreens. hope this helps

I have 3 kids and we've dealt with lots of pink eye! At the beginning of the year, I have to take the 1st one to the Dr. to get the drops or ointment. Then, I use the same tube for everyone, until it runs out. I would go ahead and use your hubby's drops (it's probably the same as your pediatrician will prescribe). Plus, if he starts the meds now, he'll be able to go back to school on Monday. If not, he'll be home Monday and Tuesday-since they usually can't go back to school until they've been on drops for at least 24 hours. FYI--you'll probably be using the drops for yourself or your other son soon:) It's highly contagious.

Hi A.,
I have had the same situation before and have used neosporin--usually the Walmart Equate brand--triple antibiotic ointment. I do not use the kind with painkiller in it. That might me harmful to the eye.
It is difficult to get it in the eye so I put it on a Q-tip and try to put it just inside the lower lid (while holding the lower lid out).
Vets use the same ointment for dogs and cats with simple eye infections. They call it BNP ointment but it contains the same ingredients:
Bacitracin Zinc, Neomycin Sulfate, and Polymyxin B Sulfate

Some people are allergic to some of these ingredients, but if you have used neosporin on your son before with no reactions, I would think it would be just fine.

Hope this helps!

They have an over the counter eye drop now for pink eye, go to your pharmacy and ask the pharmacist to show you where it is.
DO not let the child use same wash cloth as you, change the bedding, where ever he touches after touching his eye will put the germs. Sanitization is very important during the first 2 or 3 days.

If you want him seen I recommend the Walgreens walk in clinics. We have had great luck there. The other thing is if you already have the meds for your husband they would probably call you in a prescription or tell you to use the same drops. My son gets pink eye if it is anywhere in the air so we always have drops on hand and pretty much start him on them at the first sign of anyone having it because we know he will get it and it will be super bad for him (eyes swell shut completly etc.)

Go to the pharmacy and look at the herbal remedies. There is an eye drop that's called Pinkeye relief. It works really well everytime. It's a glass bottle and weired to get the drops out. But it works and works well.

Suzi

There is really no known way to treat pink eye without antibiotics. To keep them comfortable till the Dr opens make sure you keep the eye clean. Use paper towels or kleenexs not towels. With towels the germs stay there. After they use a towel after a bath make sure the towel they use goes directly to the dirty clothes. Be sure to disenfect everything in the house including mattress, toys ect. These germs continue to pass, and soon as you think it is gone they can get it back. Be sure everyone washes their hands frequently and use paper towels to dry them. If anything find an eye Dr that is open on the weekend. They can treat for that also. Check your local Wal-Mart Vision Center to see if they have an eye Dr on sight.

I am a mother of 4 children, and have been through this before and the weekend seems to be the time it starts. I just so happen to work in a Wal-Mart Vision Center and went to the eye Dr there. Good luck to ya all.

Hi, yes you treat it with an over the counter pink eye medicine sold almost every where until you can get them to the doctor. Walgreens and Walmart have it.

Is your pharmacy opened on Saturdays? Call them and ask, maybe they can suggest something until Monday.

Good luck,
D.

I know we have a walkin drs. office that is open on the weekends, do you have anything like that in your area? That is my only idea, I'm not sure of any OTC types of stuff that works. Hope you find something.