In almost all cases, viral conjunctivitis treatment can be managed at home with a common sense approach.
The most common cause of pink eye or conjunctivitis is a viral infection; the virus can affect both eyes and presents with a red and inflamed eye. The most common virus which causes pink eye is the adenovirus which tends to affect children. However, the virus is very contagious and can easily be passed on to other family members. There is no drug treatment for virus induced conjunctivitis and supportive care measures should be utilized.

Because viral conjunctivitis is very contagious, it is essential that you limit contact with others; the next important aspect of treatment is to ensure that you wash your hands every time you touch your eyes. Regular hand washing should be practiced by the entire family.

Pillow cases, towels and linen should be washed on a daily basis to ensure that the virus is killed. There is no need to use any special soap or disinfectant; the virus is rapidly killed by the detergent in water.
If you have excessive tearing, use clean tissues and discard them in a separate container. During the viral infection, avoid wearing contact lenses as they can worsen the symptoms. Moreover, avoid wearing makeup, cosmetic or fragrances in and around the face. Fumes generated from these substances can irritate viral conjunctivitis.

Most health care workers recommend the use of moist warm compresses as a treatment for viral conjunctivitis. Take a cloth, moisten it with water and warm it up in a microwave for about a minute; then apply the cloth on the eyes for a few minutes, several times a day. Moist compresses immediately sooth symptoms of viral conjunctivitis and also remove the debris from around the eye. Most people respond rapidly to warm compresses.

When washing the face, there is no need to buy any type of medicated soap or exotic detergent. Just use a bland soap and then gently wipe your face dry. The towel should not be shared with others. If the eye feels scratchy or dry, one can buy over the counter artificial tear drops. Try not to contaminate the dropper tip with your eyes or fingers. After the infection is over discard the eye drops.

Eye patching is not recommended as a treatment for viral conjunctivitis as this can worsen the viral infection and moreover patching can hide symptoms. There are countless other products sold over the counter for viral conjunctivitis but in reality, they are a waste of money. Many of these products contain synthetic chemicals and can make your viral conjunctivitis worse. Maintaining good eye hygiene and not sharing personal care products will go a long way to curing your infection.

Consumers should understand that when home treatments fail to improve the symptoms in a few days or if the eye appears more painful or the vision is impaired, a visit to the eye doctor is highly recommended. Even though there is no specific viral conjunctivitis treatment, the eye doctor should check your eyes to make sure that there is nothing wrong.

Viral Conjunctivitis treatment | treatment for viral conjunctivitis