Conjunctivitis is redness and inflammation of the thin layer of tissue that covers the front of the eye (conjunctiva). It is very common.

People often refer to conjunctivitis as red eye.

Other symptoms of conjunctivitis include itchiness and watering of the eyes, and sometimes a sticky coating on the eyelashes (if it's caused by an allergy).

The conjunctiva is a mucous membrane, which extends from the undersurface of the lids & stretching upto the anterior part of the eyeball, an infection or inflammation to Conjunctiva is known as conjunctivitis.

If the 3 bodily humors like Vata, Pitta & Kapha get vitiated by causative factors, they affect the covering thin layer of the eyes & there by causing “Abhishyanda” a painful condition of the eyes.

Root Causes

     1) Infective Conjunctivitis – This is due to an infection of the conjunctiva  by microbial agents like bacteria, viruses’ etc.

      2) Allergic Conjunctivitis – This is due to hypersensitive reaction of the conjunctiva by non specific agents like dust, smoke, pollens etc.

Clinical Features

1. Discomfort & foreign body sensation in the eyes

2. Redness of the eyes 

3. Photophobia i.e. difficulty to tolerate light

4. Sticking together of the lid margins due to profuse discharge.

Treating conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis often doesn't require treatment as the symptoms usually clear up within a couple of weeks. If treatment is thought necessary, the type of treatment will depend on the cause but in most cases antibiotic eye drops can be used to clear the infection.

Irritant conjunctivitis will clear up as soon as whatever is causing it is removed.  

Allergic conjunctivitis can usually be treated with anti-allergy medications such as antihistamines. If possible, avoid the substance that triggered the allergy.

It's best not to wear contact lenses until the symptoms have cleared up. Any sticky or crusty coating on the eyelids or lashes can be cleansed with cotton wool and water.

Washing your hands regularly and avoiding sharing pillows or towels will help prevent it spreading.

Complications

Conjunctivitis can be a frustrating condition – especially allergic conjunctivitis – but in most cases it doesn't pose a serious threat to health.

Complications of conjunctivitis are very rare but when they do occur they can be serious, such as:

• a severe case of allergic conjunctivitis can lead to scarring in the eye
• in cases of infective conjunctivitis the infection can spread to other areas of the body, triggering more serious secondary infections such as meningitis (an infection of the outer layer of the brain)