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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Red Irritant Eyes, Diagnosed With Conjunctivitis And Was On Medication. Still Issue Persists. What To Do?

Was diagnosed with conjunctivitis and put on Tobrex. Didn t get better, so started Maxitrol. Still had red irritated syes, so was told to use Alrex 3x a day and an antibiotic oinment once a day. In the middle of treatment, my eye doctor closed his office and I visited another opthalmologist and was told to stop all the meds (this doc did not listen to me, and contridicted everything I had been told previously). Two weeks later, my eyes are still red and irritated and I have not worn my contacts for 4-6 weeks now. I have been using rewetting dropps to relieve the irritation, but stopped that as well after reading that too much of them could actually hurt my eyes ability to create enough tears . I m at a loss as to what to do now. When should I seek yet another doc opinion? Should I wait it out and see if they clear up on their own? How long would my eyes need to recover after prolonged use of steroid drops? Any help/advice would be appreciated.
Tue, 26 Feb 2013
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Ophthalmologist,  's  Response
Hi. Thanks for posting your query here. Conjunctivitis may be bacterial or viral in majority of the affected patients. Logically, antibacterials would work on the bacterial form of conjunctivitis. You have been using a number of medications but I do not believe you have completed the course of any of them to appreciate a significant improvement. It has been close to a month since you first experienced symptoms so I recommend a mild antibiotic and steroid combination eyedrop for a period of 5 days with a frequency of 3 times a day. Use lubricating eye drops and rest assured they do not have any significant side effects to be concerned about especially if you use preservative free medication like Refresh tears 4 times a day. Use a lubricating eye ointment at bedtime as well. Approximately 5 to 7 days later, your symptoms should subside and you may resume use of contact lenses. If you did indeed have conjunctivitis and were using the pair of lenses you have currently, you will have to consider replacing the pair with a fresh pair of lenses.
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Red Irritant Eyes, Diagnosed With Conjunctivitis And Was On Medication. Still Issue Persists. What To Do?

Hi. Thanks for posting your query here. Conjunctivitis may be bacterial or viral in majority of the affected patients. Logically, antibacterials would work on the bacterial form of conjunctivitis. You have been using a number of medications but I do not believe you have completed the course of any of them to appreciate a significant improvement. It has been close to a month since you first experienced symptoms so I recommend a mild antibiotic and steroid combination eyedrop for a period of 5 days with a frequency of 3 times a day. Use lubricating eye drops and rest assured they do not have any significant side effects to be concerned about especially if you use preservative free medication like Refresh tears 4 times a day. Use a lubricating eye ointment at bedtime as well. Approximately 5 to 7 days later, your symptoms should subside and you may resume use of contact lenses. If you did indeed have conjunctivitis and were using the pair of lenses you have currently, you will have to consider replacing the pair with a fresh pair of lenses.