Conjunctivitis can occur due to infection, allergy or eye irritation by chemicals.

Causes

Infective conjunctivitis can cause viruses (adenovirus, herpes virus) and bacteria (streptococci, staphylococci, pneumococci, gonococci). Viral conjunctivitis is often one of the symptoms of acute respiratory infection (common cold), and often occurs during the cold season, when many viral infections.

Allergic conjunctivitis occurs in response to the action of a dust allergen, animal hair, pollen and may be associated with allergic diseases such as hay fever, atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, bronchial asthma.

Conjunctivitis can occur during stimulation of the conjunctiva fumes of chemicals (paints, lacquers, cleaning agents, chemicals), caught in the eye of substandard cosmetics, shampoos, etc.

There are other, more rare causes of conjunctivitis, but they can reveal only when viewed from a doctor, and after further research.

Symptoms of conjunctivitis

Viral conjunctivitis: 

•  profuse watery eyes; 
•  irritation and redness of the eye, he wants to constantly rub;
• affected early in one eye, then the other moves to the infection.

Bacterial conjunctivitis:

• purulent discharge, causing coalescence of age, the person wakes up in the morning and it's hard to open my eyes; 
• conjunctival edema and centuries, watery eyes;
• irritation and redness of the eye;
• usually affects one eye, but non-compliance with the rules of hygiene infection can easily switch to another.

Allergic conjunctivitis: 

• usually affects both eyes;
• severe pruritus;
• watery eyes;
• eyelids swelling.

Complications

One of the complications of conjunctivitis, leading to serious consequences with the possible loss of vision is keratitis. That is why it is so important during the start to treat conjunctivitis.

What you can do 

Different forms of conjunctivitis require different treatment. If you notice in yourself or your child's symptoms of conjunctivitis, you should like to see a doctor as soon as possible.

What can a doctor

Conjunctivitis is diagnosed during routine inspection of an ophthalmologist. In some cases, you may need swab / scraping of the conjunctiva to determine the type of microorganism.

For the treatment of allergic conjunctivitis it is very important to find out the allergen that causes the disease and try to completely eliminate the possibility of contact with him. If the allergen is removed, then the treatment can be quite cold compresses on the area of the eyes and artificial tears products to reduce the discomfort. In more severe cases, and if you can not completely eliminate exposure to the allergen doctor may prescribe nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory or anti-histamines.

Bacterial conjunctivitis is usually treated with eye drops and ointments, which include broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Viral conjunctivitis requires prescription antiviral drops, interferon or antiviral ointments.

Prevention 

Prevention of viral and bacterial conjunctivitis is reduced mainly to the implementation of the common rules of hygiene. It is necessary to frequently wash their hands with soap and water, do not touch the hands of the face, especially the eyes, use individual towels. Instead of handkerchiefs is better to use disposable wipes.

The primary method of prevention of allergic conjunctivitis - identify the allergens that cause such unpleasant consequences, and try to avoid contact with them.