What causes pink eye?

What causes pink eye?

Robert K. Maloney (Ophthalmologist) gives expert video advice on: Are my frequent headaches due to vision problems?; What can cause temporary blindness?; What should I do if I lose my vision suddenly? and more...

Generally pink eye will cause your eyes to be scratchy, irritated, and watery. Usually pink eye goes along with some kind of head cold. You'll typically have some congestion, maybe a cough, and there'll usually be somebody you've been around who's got it as well. If that's the case you can be pretty sure it's pink eye. The main thing about pink eye, since we can't cure it, is to prevent spreading it to other people. It's spread because you touch your eyes or your tears. It gets on your hands, then you touch somebody else, or you touch something like a doorknob that they touch, then they rub their eyes. It's what we call person-to-person direct contact. So, if you have pink eye, it's important not to spread it. Wash your hands frequently, don't share towels or other objects with people, and try to stay away from people as much as possible. Try to stay home from work if you can.