If you experience red eyes, there are many culprits, including trauma, scratches by foreign objects, infections and allergies. The main thing is to address the symptoms; some of these ailments have serious consequences for your eye health.
Here are a few of the conditions you should keep an eye on:
Conjunctivitis or Pink Eye
Conjunctivitis, also known as the dreaded pink eye, is an inflammation of the conjunctiva, the clear membrane lining the eyelid and covering the white part of the eyeball. The cause of the redness in the eye is inflammation of the small blood vessels.
Signs of conjunctivitis include: redness; swelling of eyelids or around eyes; watery eyes; itchiness; sandy or gritty feeling when you blink, and eyelids crusted over in the morning by overnight discharge.
Contact wearers should stop wearing their contacts, especially extended-wear types. If your symptoms don’t improve after 12 to 24 hours, see a doctor to confirm that the infection is not associated with contact use.
Pink eye can be caused by exposure to the sun, a virus, dry air, bleeding problems, coughing, rapid increase in eyeball pressure resulting in pain, allergies, dust, bacteria, or a foreign object in the eye.