Some Eye Problems Which You Can Treat at Home
An ophthalmologist has many years of surgical and clinical training. These people use their years of knowledge to treat different types of eye problems. But there are some eye problems which don’t usually need the expertise of an ophthalmologist you can safely address these problems at home. The following are some of the eye problems and their treatments (which are considered as true remedies), which you can perform at home.
Pink eye also called conjunctivitis
Most of the cases of pink eye are caused by a virus. As always, no antibiotics can help treat a viral condition. Like most viral infections, this viral conjunctivitis will go away on its own after some time. The viral pink eye usually goes away in one to two weeks. If the condition worsens, always have your doctor examine you. The application of cold compresses to your eye can help reduce the uneasiness caused by conjunctivitis.
For bacterial conjunctivitis, one should follow his/her treatment plan, which usually consists of antibiotics drops for the eye. Either you have viral or bacterial conjunctivitis; you should do whatever you can to avoid the transfer of this disease to someone else. The pink eye is highly contagious, and if some preventive steps are not taken, it spreads from one person to another very quickly. To stop the spread of pink eye, one shouldn’t share his/her towels, handkerchiefs, or any other cosmetics, the pillowcases should also be changed frequently, and most importantly, one should often wash his/her hands.
Black eye
Black eye can usually be treated at home. But it’s best to see an ophthalmologist if more severe symptoms of the black eye start to appear. These severe symptoms can come in the form of blurred vision, sometimes blood starts to gather on the surface of the eyeball, or sometimes the victim can’t even move his/her eye. To treat this condition at home; on the first day of the disease, an ice pack should be used to relieve the pain, and to reduce the swelling; the ice pack should be used for about 15 to 20 minutes every hour. If you don’t have an ice pack, you can use a bag of frozen vegetables, or you can also use ice cubes wrapped in a piece of cloth. A cloth is used because it protects the skin around your eye from freezing. You might have seen in movies or on a television show that people sometimes use raw meat on their swollen eye; here’s a solid piece of advice don’t ever do this. First of all, there is no scientific proof for this act, and secondly, the raw meat contains bacteria which can easily cause infection.
Eye Allergies
Just like some people have nasal allergies, others have eye allergies. These eye allergies can make the eye teary, can also cause itchiness and sometimes can cause blood to gather on the surface of the eyeball. Eye allergies are usually caused due to a specific substance; it can be caused due to mold, pets, or pollen. The best way to alleviate any symptom is by reducing one’s exposure to the cause of his/her allergy. If the cause can’t be removed completely, one should use eye allergy treatments to minimize the effects. If the cause of your allergy is pollen, you shouldn’t use a window fan because it brings pollen into your home. When you are outside, you should wear sunglasses to reduce your exposure. If dust is the cause of your allergy, you should use artificial tears; these can help wash your eyes temporarily off any allergens. For your bed, you should use allergen-reducing covers. And anti-allergy eye drops should be used to reduce the symptoms. Whatever is the cause of your allergy, one thing you should always avoid is rubbing your eyes; this doesn’t relieve any symptoms but inevitably will cause you more irritation.
Stye also known as hordeolum
A stye looks pretty nasty, but it’s quite harmless, and usually, just within a week, it goes away. One can easily treat it at home, first, take a clean washcloth, soak it in warm water and wring it out so that it’s not dripping. Then place that damp cloth over your eye, when the cloth becomes cool, repeat the process a couple of times. For at least a week, you should do this whole process three to four times a day. The heat from the cloth helps open up the pores in your eyelash area. When you have a stye you shouldn’t wear contact lenses or any kind of eye makeup. And most importantly, you shouldn’t squeeze or pop the stye; this can cause it to spread to other areas of the eye.
Eye Strain
Eye strain is usually caused when a person focuses on a specific task for quite some time without blinking, for example, it can happen due to long hours of driving or reading, or it can occur when one uses a computer for quite some time. Eye strain can make your eyes tired and dry. Symptoms of eye strain can easily be treated at home, work, or while driving by doing certain things. These things include resting your eyes after long hours of work, using artificial tears when you feel that your eyes have become dry, wearing sunglasses, and computer glasses when needed.
Always use Common Sense
Whenever any of these conditions worsen or when these don’t go away or if you feel that your vision is being affected, seek the help of an ophthalmologist right away.
Don’t treat these eye problems on your own
There are some eye problems which one should never try to treat on their own. These are Double Vision, Blurriness, Pain in the eye and any severe eye injury, etc. When any of these problems take place, one should see his/her ophthalmologist right away. It’s always best to seek medical attention as soon as possible because prolonging your visit to the doctor can make your condition worse and, in some cases, even make it untreatable.
