If you've had a child with Conjunctivitis, you know why part of my title has the not-so-articulate word "crappy" in it. 'Coz it sucks and it sucks big time i.e. it's crappy. Waking up to my eyes glued together by yucky, gooey gunk is not my idea of a great start to the day. If you're a child, imagine that frustration 100 times over. Nope, Pink Eye, much as I love the colour pink, is not my cup of tea and yet I've had the fortune of having it a few times in my life which leads me to the bad news about this specific ailment   - it is CONTAGIOUS!!!  Don't underestimate (..the things that I will do..there's a fire burning in my heart..sorry I digress) this please because it is next to impossible to avoid contracting conjunctivitis once someone has it in the house. You have to have a super duper immune system and start dosing as soon as it rears its evil head in the house and even then, chances are you will get it. It's like death and taxes..inevitable.


Inevitable though it may be, there are some really easy things you can do to help ease your child's discomfort. Not even going to go into immunity boosting as I've mentioned it enough in previous posts..you know the drill!! Boosting immunity at the first sight of a cold is most important as more often than not, Pink Eye will develop after a cold. Please note that all bouts of Conjunctivitis are *not* bacterial and therefore antibiotics, whether oral or via drops, may not always help. The following tips can be used for either. 


First things first. Make your child more comfortable by gently cleaning the gunk off his/her eyes. I like to do this with a combination of Chamomile & Eyebright tea which has been brewed for a good 10/15 minutes to activate the herbs' medicinal properties. I've mentioned Chamomile tea as an effective soothing agent - Eyebright is similar in that it helps reduce inflammation and as its name suggests, is especially useful in ailments of the eye. Use a clean cotton ball, dip in the tea and gently wipe across the eyelashes. It will take a few tries to get it all out, especially if it's a bad infection. Since the eyes can be sore and therefore hurt,  your child might resist having them touched - what has worked for me in the past is to first use the warm tea as a compress on closed eyes. The heat feels good and will help relax your child before you start to pry his/her eye lids open. You can also use the tea as a wash throughout the day - this will help soothe the achiness (spell check showed me raunchiness, really????) but will also help fight the infection.


Also effective for reducing swelling and discomfort is putting a warm (or cold if your child prefers it) teabag on the eyes. I would make R & Z lie down to nap and put them on while they slept, changing every so often.  A regular teabag works wonders here as the tannic acid in it helps both to soothe and draw infection out of the eye. Rosewater is another effective eye drop and antiseptic - there are people back home who have told me they believe rose water (pure water distilled from the rose i.e) actually helps improve eyesight as well. Others believe warmed milk eye drops work wonders - if you are nursing, breast milk is very effective both as a wash and in the form of eye drops. Goes without saying that it is antiseptic. Another favourite of mine is raw honey which I've said time and time again is a great antibacterial tool - dissolve some raw honey in warm water and administer as drops and use as a wash too ( I wouldn't recommend this for a very young child as the honey will sting - only for a second - but will sting nonetheless).

For those of you that have kids with allergies, you may find that they develop eye infections with bad bouts - Vitamin D is great for helping with allergies and Cod Liver Oil which contains Omega 3s and Essential Fatty Acids which are also invaluable for fighting allergies and asthma. 


Use an emollient under the eyes to prevent dryness and itchiness. You can add a drop of Lavender or Roman Chamomile Essential oil to help heal the infection via Aromatherapy as well.


Finally, homeopathy can help. Here are some of the common remedies for Conjunctivitis:


-- Apis Mellifica (keynotes are swollen, red & puffy eyes, better with cold, burning sensation)
-- Belladonna (keynotes are sudden onset, throbbing/bloodshot eyes, sensitivity to light)
-- Hepar Sulphuris Calcareum (keynotes are irritability, sensitivity to cold, warmth helps & yellow discharge)
-- Mercurius Solubilis (keynotes are green discharge, sensitive to both heat & cold, excess salivation)
-- Pulsatilla (keynotes clinginess, yellow/green discharge, weepy)