What To Do With Pink Eye

My daughter K have missed school for about 2 weeks now because of pink eye (also known as sore eyes or conjunctivitis). Actually, the problem with her eyes started more than 2 weeks ago.

Out of the blue one afternoon, she said she felt a pain on her right eye. What I saw gave me a shock of my life. Not only was the eye red, but there was like a bubble on the outer side of her eye. Mind you, not on the eyelids but on her eyeball. The only way I can describe it is like having a blister on your eye. Anyway, DH quickly took her to the Tun Hussein Onn eye hospital. Apparently it was an allergic reaction. As they washed her eye, they found an eyelash. Don't know if that was the culprit. They gave her some drops and ointment. Her eye was looking much better when she came back from the hospital. Anyway, they told her to go back to the hospital 5 days later. By then, her eyes were ok.

4 days after that 2nd hospital appointment, both eyes became red. I wasn't sure if the redness had any connection with what happened to her eyes earlier on. I didn't want to go back to the hospital to wait another 2-3 hours. It looked like pink eye so I told her to keep washing her eyes with cotton. Asked her to put some cool sliced cucumber to relieve the discomfort. I was hoping her eyes would get better in a few days. WRONG!

MAMAS PARENTING TIP: If you suspect your child is having sore eyes, take him/her to a doctor straightaway to get proper medication.

Her eyes were swollen top and bottom. It was such a scary red especially underneath the eyelids, it looked like it was bleeding. When she closed her eyes, you could see like a bruised mark. After 4 days of having sore eyes, I took her to our family GP. He confirmed it was conjunctivitis cause by bacteria. He gave some antibacterial drops and ointment. Said it should clear within 24 - 48 hours. If not, go back to see him.

After 48 hours, I see more white in her eyes but still lots of red underneath the eyelids. Took her back to GP who recommended we see an eye specialist to check it out further.

MAMAS PARENTING TIP: You can see a general doctor for pink eye. But it is better to see an eye specialist.

When I took K to see the eye specialist, he mentioned that sore eyes these days are becoming more difficult to treat as the virus or bacteria is becoming more resistant to medication. That's why the medication given by the GP didn't really work. He gave K another kind of antibacterial drops and ointment PLUS antibiotics to take orally.

Pink eye due to bacterial infection is contagious. I know it can be worrying that your child is missing so many days of school. Try to make it up with some home schooling.

Also, make sure there is no sharing of towels, pillows etc.... Ask the other siblings to stay away as much as possible. Very likely they won't. Hahaha. That's the case with my kids. They just can't stay away from each other. Now my son D1 has one eye that is slightly red. Sigh! Attack of the evil red eye.