Your child wakes up one morning and their eyes are red, itchy, watery, and puffy. When this occurs he or she most likely has a common problem called conjunctivitis or pink eye. If you are wondering if your child has pink eye, call or visit your pediatrician or visit AllKids Urgent Care. Our pediatric providers at our Mesa And Gilbert pediatric urgent care clinics are available from noon to 10 pm every day.
What Is Pink Eye?
Pink eye is an inflammation of the thin, clear covering of the white of the eye and the inside of the eyelid. It’s the most common eye problem kids can have and it causes redness, itching, swelling, and a clear or white, yellow, or greenish gooey liquid to collect in the eye.
What Causes Pink Eye?
Kids can get conjunctivitis for different reasons. Most get it from bacteria or viruses. Viral conjunctivitis is very contagious and will usually clear up on its own within several days without medical treatment. Bacterial conjunctivitis is more serious and can cause damage to the eye if left untreated. There is a third type of pink eye caused by allergies, either seasonal, dust, or pet dander and would need to be treated with allergy medicine or shots.
Direct contact with an infected person, usually through hand-to-eye contact, can spread the infection quickly. Children are the most susceptible to getting pink eye from bacteria or viruses because they are in close contact with so many others in school or day care centers and don’t always practice good hygiene habits.
Pink Eye Treatment
It can often be difficult to tell which type of pink eye your child has by their symptoms alone, so a doctor would need to examine them before determining if they have bacterial, viral, or allergic conjunctivitis. Pink eye can last from one to two weeks and will usually disappear on its own, but a doctor will most often prescribe antibiotic eye drops to treat the infection.
At home, make sure your child washes their hands often, especially if they touch their eyes. You can help soothe your child’s itchy, watery eyes with a cool washcloth, just make sure no one else uses that washcloth and spreads the disease.
It’s important to remember that pink eye a very common problem and with some help from your doctor or pediatric urgent care you’ll child will be right back to their old selves quickly.
Mesa Pediatric Urgent Care and Gilbert Pediatric Urgent Care
It can be scary any time your child is sick, but rest assured that AllKids Urgent Care is here to help guide you every step of the way with a caring and knowledgeable pediatric staff. Both our Gilbert Pediatric Urgent Care and our Mesa Pediatric Urgent Care are open every day, from noon to 10 p.m. No appointment is necessary, just stop in and start your child on the road back to health.
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