It can be painful, but it isn’t a big deal most of the time. It just needs some soothing a little time to heal.

Wash the red away – a warm compress applied to the eyes for 5-10 minutes 3 or 4 times a day will make you feel better

Keep them clean – a lot of times it gets better by itself. To speed the process along, keep your eyes and eyelids clean by using a cotton ball dipped in clean or sterile water to wipe the crusts away

Adults, baby yourself – If you have a lot of discharge make a solution of 1 part baby shampoo to 10 parts warm water. Dip a cotton ball into the solution and use it to clean off your eyelashes. The warm water loosens the crust and the baby shampoo cleans off the junction of your eyelid and eyelash. An over the counter solution called I-Scrub used the same way is just as effective. Do not use this for young children

Wash everything – this infection is highly contagious. Wash the cloths, towels and anything else that comes in contact with the eye. Do not share towels with anyone.

No Chlorine – Chlorine can cause conjunctivitis, but without chlorine in your pool bacteria would grow and that will cause it too. If you’re going to go swimming and you’re susceptible to conjunctivitis,l wear tight fitting goggles while in the water

Allergic conjunctivitis – If your eye itches like a mosquito bite and you have stringy pus in your eye, most of the time that’s the sign of allergic conjunctivitis. Taking an over the counter antihistamine will help, and use cold not warm compresses. A cold compress relieves the itch

A triple antibiotic gently rubbed on the junction of eyelids at night before bed can provide some relief and a quicker healing process. If you can go without touching your eyes you can do this during the daytime too. If your doing this on a young child do it at bedtime so they don’t rub it in their eyes.

When to see a doctor:

After 5 days the infection is worse not better

You have a red eye that is associated with significant eye pain, change in vision, or a copious amount of yellow or greenish discharge

redness is caused by an injury to your eye. Sometimes infections can get in the eye and scratch the cornea, leading to an ulcer or even loss of vision or loss of your eye

And as always, if in doubt, see the doctor