How I Successfully Cured Pinkeye WITHOUT A Doctor's Visit

I woke up with a swollen and red eye one morning this past spring. I had slept in late and thought it was due to the way I slept, but low and behold, it was pinkeye.  (I was self-diagnosed but after studying medicine for years I was confident that my symptoms lined up with pinkeye, especially as the days progressed.)

My mom's first instinct was to tell me, "Go to the doctor." Don't get me wrong, doctors can be very useful, but there was a time when people did not run to the clinic for everything an as an herbalist-in-training, I wanted to try my hand at curing such a common illness.

There are four different causes of pinkeye: bacterial, viral, chemical or foreign object related, and allergies. Symptoms of these types vary slightly but there are some tell-tale signs you can look for.

Viral pinkeye is most common to have redness, eyelid swelling and tenderness, itching or burning, tearing and/or clear or watery drainage. Bacterial infections of the eye can cause redness, eyelid swelling, greenish-yellow drainage, and mild pain. Allergic pinkeye typically effects both eyes and is accompanied by increased tear production, itching, and redness. Chemical or foreign object related pinkeye is the easiest to determine as it is often the result of having something get in your eye such as an incest flying into your eye or some sort of chemical splashing into your eye. It also is accompanied by redness, tearing, and irritation.

I had bacterial related pinkeye.

**Before I continue, I must add in a disclaimer that I am not a licensed medical doctor, nor am I saying that herbal medicine is right for everyone. I am simply explaining what I did and how it worked for me. For anyone interested in treating ailments with herbs, please do your research beforehand as some herbs can be dangerous if taken incorrectly or in large doses. Herbal medicine is not for everyone and I am not discrediting doctors whatsoever. Herbalism is my choice of treatment and self-care for my family. Using herbal medicine has been, and will continue to be, my preferred choice of treating ailments and illnesses. I would be more than happy to discuss the why's and how's of my decision if anyone is curious. Feel free to contact me with any herb-related questions.**

After self-diagnoses, I turned to my medical books for how to treat it. In one book, "The Herbal Drugstore" by Dr. Linda B. White and Steven Foster (I would recommend this book to anyone), it talks about the different types of prescription and OTC medicines used to treat pinkeye, as well as several herbal alternatives. I used a mix of the two.

Polymyxin B (which is Neosporin) was listed under the Drug Treatment section. This was odd to me because the tube says not to put on or near the eyes, however after doing more in-depth research, many doctors used to instruct patients to rub a small amount in the inner corner and around the eyelid of an infected eye. Neosporin helps to kill any bacteria and assists in speeding up the healing process and I used this method once a day before bed. (I also used anti-redness eye drops for a couple days but those did not seem to help so I discontinued the use of those.)

Tea - yes, tea - was listed with herbal remedies. Green tea can be used to treat viral and bacterial eye infections. The book says to soak a tea bag in water (cool water will help reduce symptoms in red and swollen eyes) and place it on the eye for several minutes. Knowing chamomile tea is also a great herbal alternative, I researched what benefits chamomile would have for eye infections just for fun. What I found was persuasive enough to add chamomile to my pinkeye fighting regimen.

The three treatments I used were Neosporin, green tea, and chamomile tea, which is good for treating both viral and bacterial pinkeye infections.

I started out rinsing my eye with green tea and chamomile tea every hour, alternating between teas. At night, I used a very small amount of the Neosporin on the inner corner of my eye and around the eyelid. I did this for three days and the swelling went down tremendously. On the fourth day, I cut out the green tea and only used chamomile as an eye rinse. Instead of using it hourly, I washed my eye several times throughout the day and continued to use the Neosporin. In total, my infection was gone within a week.

When my eye was still swollen, I would use a cool compress, using a clean rag each time. I would religiously wash my hands after touching my face or treating my eye, and  threw out any makeup I had used days prior to getting the infection and avoided makeup of any kind during treatment. My husband - the only person that was exposed to the infection - did not catch pinkeye and I have since not had any complications or other issues with my eye. I was extremely happy about the results and how quickly the infection cleared up, and would absolutely use the same method again if I had to.

x.

God bless, lovelies!