conjunctivitis

[slightlyconfused85]

My 15mo seems to have developed this over the course of today. By lunchtime her eyes are red, eyelids swollen and a frequent greeny yellow discharge. She is a bit grizzly but no temp. And cheered up a lot this evening. She does seem to have a light viral rash on her tummy and hand. I rang NHS direct and they said just to keep washing her eyes with tepid water and wait three days. I am following this advice but feel a bit worried. In my experience.brightly coloured gunk is usually an infection and needs antibiotics to clear up. I am worried about it getting a lot worse if untreated. would others take her to an emergency surgery tomorrow or leave it and wait till monday to see if it clears up? She is my first so no experience.

Do you breastfeed? If you do you can drop some of it into her eyes can help clear it until you get antibiotic eye drops. Use sterile water with cottn pads to clear the eye. The pads that don't fray!

NICE guidelines are that antibiotic drops don't help. Most cases clear up in a few days without them.

Our DS and DTs had conjunctivitis a couple of weeks ago. DS & DTS cleared up in 48 hours with regular cleaning, DTD's got worse over 48 hours so I took her to the GP in on the 3rd morning - chloraphenicol drops helped enormously.

Thanks all. I don't breastfeed now. I will leave it tomorrow and carry on with the regular washing. If no improvement I will swing by the gp on Monday morning.

Don't know if she goes to nursery but mine won't take them unless they're being treated with eye drops. Usually clears up in a couple of days. I was told if under two needs be prescribed drops, if over 2 you can buy them over the counter.

I took her to the doctor this morning as no improvement and her mood is dreadful, sometimes inconsolable. I have got eyedrops for her and he could find nothing else wrong, so I guess it is just really irritating her. If anyone has any tips on how I can relieve her discomfort in the meantime it would be most appreciated. She goes to a CM but don't think tomorrow she will be able to.

DD had very sore eyes when she was developing chicken pox weirdly. DS often gets sore eyes as part of a non-specific virus, along with a non-specific viral rash.

The advice about antibiotics is right. You only need to give them if it goes on for weeks instead of days or if they worsen/have other symptoms (vision issues, noticeable pain etc). You treat the symptoms with regular washing with a sterile liquid (water, breastmilk), different piece of cotton wool for each eye and wipe inside to out. Use separate towels too.