Conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the conjunctiva in the eye. This condition is more commonly known sore eye or pink eye. This condition manifests in the white of the eye going either red or pink, extreme amounts of tear production, and sometimes pus coming from the eyes. This is not a serious condition and even leaving this condition without treatment will generally not damage your eyes.
There are three forms of conjunctivitis; they are blepharoconjuntivitis, keratoconjunctivitis, and episceleritis. Belpharoconjunctivitis is pink eye combined with the inflammation of the eyelids, keratoconjunctivitis is pink eye with an inflammation of the cornea as well and episcleritis is an inflammation that causes pink eye without any teary discharge.
Conjunctivitis can cause either a pink eye or a red eye with a pus discharge. Pink eye would indicate that the inflammation is caused by a viral infection and red eyes with a pus discharge would indicate a bacterial infection. There is also a possibility that conjunctivitis is caused by an allergic reaction as well.
This would manifest no discharge and extremely teary eyes. In some cases, conjunctivitis can also cause pain. Infectious conjunctivitis is spread through contact or through the use of shared surfaces like towels. One of the most common causes for the spread of this problem is through shaking the hand of an infected person after they have touched their eyes and then later rubbing your own. There is a more sinister cause when the pus secretion is abnormally active and this the case when gonorrhea spreads from the genitals to the rest of the body. Diagnosis is usually confirmed once the eyes are closely observed using a biomicroscope. It is also curious to know that some forms of viral conjunctivitis are caused by a crossover of respiratory tract infections like the common cold.
Treating conjunctivitis or pink eye depends on the type of causative agent. Allergic conjunctivitis will go away with regular washing of the eye with a weak saline solution or artificial tears. Bacterial pink eye needs to be treated with antibiotics. Unfortunately, the efficacy of drops is just as much as when your body will fight infection. A good method to try would be to use some extremely diluted tea tree oil dropped into the eye. Viral infections are much more complicated and there are not many proven remedies against viruses. Lemon balm is a promising herb in this regard that you can try out as it has proved itself in some quarters against viral infections in the respiratory system.