Hello, my 4 year old son woke up this morning with pink eye! Do I absolutely need to take him into the doctors or is there something I can do at home for it?
Assuming it is conjunctivitis and not "allergy eye", I would call you doctor to see what they suggest. You may have to take him in. In the event of allergies, maybe some OTC eye drops or antihistamine.
There is actually something you can get at Walgreens (or likely whatever your local drugstore is) called Similasan Pink Eye relief that totally works. It's actually safe for all ages. Supposedly the antibiotics used for pink eye are very strong - my pediatrician only prescribes them as a last resort if the virus is worsening.
Pink eye can be viral or bacterial. If it's bacterial you need the antibiotic drops the over the counter pink eye drops only help relieve the symptoms of viral pink eye it's not a cure for anything. Call your ped and see what they say mine will call in a script if I call with a detailed description of what their eye looks like.
We've been dealing with pink eye in our home for the past few weeks between my son and myself...I was told that depending on what type of pink eye it is, that an antibiotic is necessary to treat it. After 24 hours of the antibiotic you are no longer contageous and can return to school, work etc... I'm currently taking Gentamicin Sulfate Ophthalmic Solution four times a day to get ride of this. I'd call your Pediatrician and see what they recommend.
If you are certain it is pink eye, then he should go in for an antibiotic eyedrop. I've read that pink eye will eventually clear up on its own, but it is very contagious, so with a child I would get the prescription. Make sure everyone in your household is washing their hands diligently, and don't touch your eyes. Once he's been on the antibiotic for 24 hrs he should be fine to be around other kids, school, etc.
warm tea bags over the eye works too...
We have pink eye going around in our huse right now. It started off my SO. His Dr told him his was viral from his bad sinus infection. His Dr said he didn't need eye drops because it was viral and just to flush it out with clear eyes solution, BUT that me and our daughter can get it from him and ours would be bacterial. Sure enough my 2 year old got it last thursday, and my eyes are starting to hurt.
I just called the nurse at our Dr's office and she called in a script so I didn't have to take her in. If it's bacterial then antibiotic eye drops need to be used, over the counter stuff will only help ease the pain/redness/dry/itchy/sandpaper feeling.
Hope this helps.
My SIL just did an externship at a pediatricians office and the dr there told her that regular old visine will heal up pink eye. That came from a pediatrician, but I would still at least call your dr to confirm.
We went through this a couple of weeks ago with 2 daycare kids. They both had antibiotic drops from he doc and the rest of the family members including my own used Polysporin drops for pink eye, no one else got it. If his eyes aren't bad, go the pharmacy and get drops, if there is a lot of stuff in his eyes, then likely a doc visit is best.
