Blog vol 4.27. DO. NOT. BUY. PINK EYE DROPS.
It is cold and flu season again and you know what that means at Burlington Eyecare, that’s right, pink eye (conjunctivitis, inflammation of the conjunctiva). In previous blogs, I have gone into detail about this condition: how contagious it is, that it is viral and that it starts in one eye then goes to the other, and that it can be nasty. In the past week, we have seen a number of people coming in with pink eye.
One of my patients was told by family to buy “Pink Eye” drops from the pharmacy to treat their very red, itchy, and runny eyes. Bad advice. My patient used the drops, which are an antibiotic combination of polymyxin B and gramicidin, great for stopping gram-positive bacterial infections. But up to 90% of pink eye is caused by a cold/adenovirus, the only possible benefit of these drops for a pink eye patient is maybe some small anti-inflammatory effect, and the worst it could do is cause secondary problems like contact dermatitis (gramicidin is noted for this) or increased bacterial resistance. Using this drop, for my patient, also delayed the use of something that would actually help. She was not getting better, of course.
I know I am getting on my soapbox again, but Johnson and Johnson (J &J), the makers of this product, have to stop labelling it in bold letters, PINK EYE. I meet regularly with my sales representative from J &J, and I have told him, on multiple occasions that they need to change the packaging as these drops are not an appropriate or helpful treatment for pink eye. The person with pink eye just wants relief, like NOW, and treatment NOW because it can look bad. Their packaging is misleading at best and problem-causing at worst.
A qualification here: not all “pink” eyes are caused by a virus. Bacterial infections are possible, as are burns (chemical or UV), allergic reactions, systemic conditions, extreme dry eye... If in doubt, get it checked out. Viral pink eye tends to be itchy and “gloopy”, as one of my patients described it, like a cold in your eye.
Pink eye spreads by contact, the virus has to get in your eye. Pink eye is usually caused by the cold virus though we have been seeing some cases of “COVID pink eye” – similar symptoms, different virus. Ultimately there is no real treatment for pink eye, like a cold or COVID, we generally try to relieve symptoms and wait out the week or so of the virus’ course.
So, do NOT purchase pink eye drops. You have a virus, not a bacteria, causing your troubles.
til next week,
The good doctor
