WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000 You can talk in the mic. You're going to have 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:05.519 to be used to just staying still, which is hard 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:06.940 for you. So you're going to have to basically 00:00:06.940 --> 00:00:09.720 stay right in the mic. Right here. Because you 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:11.580 can see your sound waves. You're on the bottom. 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:14.919 I can't see them. You can't see them? No, I can't. 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:20.760 Where am I looking? Oh. The white one? Yeah, 00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:23.559 so that's your sound waves. I'm saying nothing. 00:00:23.820 --> 00:00:25.859 You are. It's doing nothing. What are you talking 00:00:25.859 --> 00:00:29.480 about? Do you not see those bars of white? But 00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:31.239 they're there whether I'm saying something or 00:00:31.239 --> 00:00:56.929 not. Oh. Is he not? Oh, okay. Welcome to the 00:00:56.929 --> 00:01:00.850 Your Mom on Drugs podcast. I've got myself, Josh 00:01:00.850 --> 00:01:04.670 Klaus here. And I'm Jennifer Seltzer. Yes, and 00:01:04.670 --> 00:01:08.010 we're a lovely mother and son pair who really 00:01:08.010 --> 00:01:10.849 love talking about drugs. Mostly the kind that 00:01:10.849 --> 00:01:13.290 you take and usually that you get at your local 00:01:13.290 --> 00:01:16.689 pharmacy or prescribed by your doctor. The other 00:01:16.689 --> 00:01:18.390 recreational stuff that you want to do, you're 00:01:18.390 --> 00:01:22.480 going to have to go to another podcast. I was 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:25.019 fortunate enough to be raised by a mom who was 00:01:25.019 --> 00:01:28.739 a pharmacist. My mom has a doctorate in pharmacy. 00:01:29.560 --> 00:01:31.840 And I always thought that that was just common 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:34.540 mom knowledge of knowing what drugs to take in 00:01:34.540 --> 00:01:36.400 the house for what conditions. But I realized 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:39.599 she was trained quite rigorously at various universities 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:42.579 to know what little pills to put in your mouth 00:01:42.579 --> 00:01:44.219 and definitely what pills not to put in your 00:01:44.219 --> 00:01:46.959 mouth so that you take them for certain conditions. 00:01:47.420 --> 00:01:49.480 So I wanted to share that knowledge with the 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:51.680 world. I thought it was extremely selfish to 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:54.939 keep that to myself. And so we basically each 00:01:54.939 --> 00:01:57.439 week or each month, we should say each episode, 00:01:57.540 --> 00:02:01.090 really. Um, we take a topic that we think is 00:02:01.090 --> 00:02:03.530 interesting, usually a topic that usually afflicts 00:02:03.530 --> 00:02:06.549 a lot of people. Um, and we try to say, this 00:02:06.549 --> 00:02:09.710 is the best or most, you know, this is the best 00:02:09.710 --> 00:02:11.669 way to treat yourself with the current knowledge 00:02:11.669 --> 00:02:14.909 that we have. Um, and speaking of knowledge, 00:02:15.110 --> 00:02:17.409 I'm going to turn it over to my mom of how we 00:02:17.409 --> 00:02:20.069 do our research each episode. Um, so you have 00:02:20.069 --> 00:02:23.099 an idea. of how we think about these conditions 00:02:23.099 --> 00:02:25.419 and what resources we use if you want to go look 00:02:25.419 --> 00:02:28.360 them up for yourself. So mom, how do you research 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:31.259 each episode? Well, I think with my pharmacy 00:02:31.259 --> 00:02:34.939 background and specifically I was trained in 00:02:34.939 --> 00:02:38.520 the area of drug information. So I learned how 00:02:38.520 --> 00:02:45.719 to research drug information. through an evidence 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:48.659 -based format. And what that means is that you're 00:02:48.659 --> 00:02:53.800 looking for data that has been assessed through 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:59.919 clinical trials or data that have been collected 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:04.240 over time to help determine the information that's 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:08.860 presented. So I will use... textbooks to get 00:03:08.860 --> 00:03:11.439 background information. There are some pharmacy 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:14.780 texts and resources that I'll use to get specific 00:03:14.780 --> 00:03:17.759 drug information. And sometimes I'll even do 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:21.539 Medline searches or PubMed searches to look for 00:03:21.539 --> 00:03:26.020 specific articles, clinical trials to help support 00:03:26.020 --> 00:03:31.639 or refine the information that we're discussing. 00:03:32.199 --> 00:03:34.460 So you don't just Google search and just regurgitate 00:03:34.460 --> 00:03:36.599 your Google search? I don't really do that. Now, 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:39.960 there are some legitimate websites to go to that 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:43.379 do have good data that we may also use, things 00:03:43.379 --> 00:03:47.979 like the Centers for Disease Control or the Food 00:03:47.979 --> 00:03:51.800 and Drug Administration. But they have data on 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:54.319 their websites that are evidence -based, so we'll 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:56.930 use those sometimes as well. Yeah, we should 00:03:56.930 --> 00:04:00.090 clarify evidence -based because not all evidence 00:04:00.090 --> 00:04:02.650 -based research is made equal. Like for example, 00:04:02.669 --> 00:04:05.729 randomized control trials are at the top of, 00:04:05.789 --> 00:04:07.909 we should describe that pyramid that you showed 00:04:07.909 --> 00:04:11.030 me that one time. So if you're reading a study 00:04:11.030 --> 00:04:14.949 online, it'll probably mention the type of study 00:04:14.949 --> 00:04:17.009 that's being done. And you'll see different words 00:04:17.009 --> 00:04:19.610 like prospective study, retrospective study, 00:04:19.889 --> 00:04:23.709 observational, et cetera. And each of those studies 00:04:23.709 --> 00:04:26.939 might be evidence -based. But the design of that 00:04:26.939 --> 00:04:30.120 study is going to be limited by a certain number 00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:32.000 of factors that we might get into in another 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:34.120 episode. But would you mind for the listeners 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:36.819 just letting what people know? like maybe the 00:04:36.819 --> 00:04:41.220 hierarchy of certain types of trials? Sure. You 00:04:41.220 --> 00:04:42.740 know, at the bottom, you're going to, you know, 00:04:42.740 --> 00:04:46.040 like public opinion or opinion pieces are going 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:48.240 to be kind of at the bottom of the pyramid. And 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:50.920 you may have case reports down at the bottom 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:53.220 as well, too. And then as you go up, you may 00:04:53.220 --> 00:04:56.339 have observational studies, which don't have 00:04:56.339 --> 00:04:59.060 a control group. So it's basically just looking 00:04:59.060 --> 00:05:02.100 for associations between the different things 00:05:02.100 --> 00:05:04.750 that you're looking at. You move up to a randomized 00:05:04.750 --> 00:05:07.329 control trial where you actually do have a control 00:05:07.329 --> 00:05:09.750 group and you can look at cause and effect in 00:05:09.750 --> 00:05:12.569 those types of trials. And then above that, you 00:05:12.569 --> 00:05:15.129 have things that are called either meta -analysis, 00:05:15.189 --> 00:05:18.189 meta -analyses, or systematic reviews, which 00:05:18.189 --> 00:05:20.949 can take a bunch of clinical trials and look 00:05:20.949 --> 00:05:24.670 at them together, looking for similar characteristics, 00:05:25.170 --> 00:05:27.269 different characteristics, and answering a particular 00:05:27.269 --> 00:05:30.689 question based on what available literature is 00:05:30.689 --> 00:05:33.269 about that particular topic. usually are about 00:05:33.269 --> 00:05:35.829 the top of the pyramid as far as information 00:05:35.829 --> 00:05:41.269 and evidence goes. And unlike something like 00:05:41.269 --> 00:05:43.970 math where two plus two equals four, science 00:05:43.970 --> 00:05:45.889 works a little bit differently where you have 00:05:45.889 --> 00:05:51.350 a claim like this drug decreases this amount 00:05:51.350 --> 00:05:54.149 of chemical in my body. And that's not going 00:05:54.149 --> 00:05:56.930 to be like a definitive answer. You're basically 00:05:56.930 --> 00:05:58.949 collecting evidence, almost like you'd be collecting 00:05:58.949 --> 00:06:01.449 evidence in a court case to prove guilt or not 00:06:01.449 --> 00:06:03.879 guilt. You're also doing the same thing with 00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:05.779 science. You're proving effectiveness or non 00:06:05.779 --> 00:06:08.339 -effectiveness. And there's a degree of how effective 00:06:08.339 --> 00:06:10.240 something might be. And you're trying to collect 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:12.500 enough evidence to show support of your claim, 00:06:12.579 --> 00:06:15.519 right? That's correct. Yes. And sometimes you 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:18.600 do and sometimes you don't. Yeah. And it's just 00:06:18.600 --> 00:06:20.779 as powerful to know what you don't know versus 00:06:20.779 --> 00:06:23.279 what you do know. So you can eliminate variables. 00:06:23.399 --> 00:06:27.660 And so when we give recommendations. It's not 00:06:27.660 --> 00:06:29.839 a definitive answer. This is just based on evidence 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:32.019 that we've collected or other people have collected. 00:06:32.360 --> 00:06:34.399 So we really want people to think about science 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:37.579 that way. It's this really fun, almost like detective 00:06:37.579 --> 00:06:40.439 or court case where you're trying to support 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:43.199 or tear down your own claim. And if you have 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:45.879 an opinion that you hold about something and 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:48.420 you find a website that confirms your opinion, 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:50.899 try to go find a website that. disconfirms your 00:06:50.899 --> 00:06:53.240 opinion. A lot of science is about falsifying 00:06:53.240 --> 00:06:55.360 your claim, meaning that you're trying to actually 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:57.420 prove your claim wrong. You're eliminating variables. 00:06:57.660 --> 00:06:59.819 And that's the fun thing. And we try to circle 00:06:59.819 --> 00:07:02.620 the truth that way. So with that being said, 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:05.079 in that little intro about how we do what we 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:08.120 do, we're going to move into talking about the 00:07:08.120 --> 00:07:10.920 topic today, which might throw you off. We're 00:07:10.920 --> 00:07:13.800 going to be talking about conjunctivitis, which 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:17.259 also is known as Pink eye. Pink eye. And if you've 00:07:17.259 --> 00:07:19.220 ever had a pink eye before, you probably know 00:07:19.220 --> 00:07:24.779 it's not a fun ordeal. And that it's easily spread. 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:28.259 You probably have some jokes about it. But we 00:07:28.259 --> 00:07:30.360 want, it was one of the conditions that's actually 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:33.160 most people are afflicted by. So we wanted to, 00:07:33.160 --> 00:07:35.740 our first couple of episodes, we wanted to talk 00:07:35.740 --> 00:07:37.939 about things that people are most afflicted by. 00:07:38.540 --> 00:07:41.040 Because it is mildly annoying to have your eyesight 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:42.759 taken away from you. I think it's one of those 00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:45.600 things that's taken for granted of how well you 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:48.480 can see and how unperturbed you could actually 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:52.279 see. So, mom, do you want to kick off in talking 00:07:52.279 --> 00:07:56.639 about what conjunctivitis is? So, to describe 00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:59.819 conjunctivitis, let me first tell everyone what 00:07:59.819 --> 00:08:03.060 the conjunctiva is. And the conjunctiva is... 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:06.519 part of our eye, obviously. It is actually the 00:08:06.519 --> 00:08:09.420 part that covers the surface of the eye as well 00:08:09.420 --> 00:08:12.019 as the inner lining of the eyelid. So it's going 00:08:12.019 --> 00:08:14.139 to be that white part. It covers what we call 00:08:14.139 --> 00:08:17.259 the sclera of the eye. So it's that white part 00:08:17.259 --> 00:08:20.259 in your eye. And so what happens when you get 00:08:20.259 --> 00:08:23.939 conjunctivitis is it gets infected or it gets 00:08:23.939 --> 00:08:28.060 irritated. And interestingly, like Josh said, 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:31.660 we are talking about topics where things affect 00:08:31.660 --> 00:08:35.740 a lot of people. And there can be up to 6 million 00:08:35.740 --> 00:08:39.580 cases of conjunctivitis each year in the United 00:08:39.580 --> 00:08:43.860 States. And it can cost anywhere from $300 million 00:08:43.860 --> 00:08:47.940 to $800 million to just treat this particular 00:08:47.940 --> 00:08:52.220 condition or, you know, malady. And that's, and 00:08:52.220 --> 00:08:54.259 by treating is just, you know, people buying 00:08:54.259 --> 00:08:56.720 eye drops or, you know. It could be, it could, 00:08:56.740 --> 00:08:59.639 and we'll get into treatment in a minute. It 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:01.519 could be things that you buy and it could be 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:04.080 just things like cold compresses, you know, and 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:06.799 stuff. So just depending on the type of conjunctivitis. 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:11.039 Yeah. So I was, I looked up some interesting 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:13.100 facts about the conjunctiva, just as some people 00:09:13.100 --> 00:09:15.840 who wanted a deeper dive, but there's two types. 00:09:15.879 --> 00:09:19.440 It's the, the bulbar and the palpebral. conjunctiva, 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:22.039 the palpebral being the stuff that goes under 00:09:22.039 --> 00:09:24.559 your eyelids and the bulbar, which is attached 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:27.220 to your eye itself in the sclera, like my mom 00:09:27.220 --> 00:09:31.539 said. The palpebral, actually, palpebral, anytime 00:09:31.539 --> 00:09:34.399 you see that word, it just means of or relating 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:37.799 to the eyelids. It's Latin for palpebralis. And 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:40.539 then the bulbar is associated with like the bulb 00:09:40.539 --> 00:09:42.580 of your eye. Like you think of like a bulb, like 00:09:42.580 --> 00:09:45.240 an onion bulb. Your eye is kind of shaped in 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:50.659 a similar shape. And the word conjunctiva also 00:09:50.659 --> 00:09:54.320 comes from Latin, conjugere, which is like conjugate, 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:57.120 which means to come together. So it's actually 00:09:57.120 --> 00:09:59.960 the coming together of basically two different 00:09:59.960 --> 00:10:03.840 types of tissue. And the conjunctiva is really, 00:10:04.259 --> 00:10:06.039 even though it's super thin, it's really, really 00:10:06.039 --> 00:10:08.360 cool. I mean, it has like these types of cells 00:10:08.360 --> 00:10:12.299 that secrete stuff like tears, and it also keeps 00:10:12.299 --> 00:10:16.029 your eyes fairly lubricated. It also has like 00:10:16.029 --> 00:10:18.490 immune cells in there as well, like B cells and 00:10:18.490 --> 00:10:20.990 T cells. And that's going to come into play when 00:10:20.990 --> 00:10:25.269 we talk about infection, which conjunctivitis 00:10:25.269 --> 00:10:27.389 just means the inflammation of. So when you hear 00:10:27.389 --> 00:10:30.029 inflammation, a lot of times that's associated 00:10:30.029 --> 00:10:32.990 with the immune system. So I just wanted to say 00:10:32.990 --> 00:10:35.929 in this very thin layer of your eyes, actually, 00:10:35.929 --> 00:10:38.629 there's so much going on in there with a lot 00:10:38.629 --> 00:10:40.690 of different types of cells because you really 00:10:40.690 --> 00:10:42.789 do want to protect your eye, but also you want 00:10:42.789 --> 00:10:45.460 to keep it functional. by keeping it lubricated, 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:48.720 keeping it moist, so that light can come in and 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:52.480 do what it does and allows you to see certain 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:57.320 things. So it's one of the more sensitive parts 00:10:57.320 --> 00:11:00.379 of your eye, which makes it vulnerable to attack. 00:11:00.620 --> 00:11:03.120 So we should probably talk about the ways in 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:05.200 which it could get attacked. So, Mom, do you 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:07.820 want to outline the ways that the conjunctiva 00:11:07.820 --> 00:11:12.009 can be invaded? Absolutely. So actually, when 00:11:12.009 --> 00:11:14.610 you get conjunctivitis, it needs to be determined 00:11:14.610 --> 00:11:18.250 what type of conjunctivitis you have. So there 00:11:18.250 --> 00:11:21.570 are four different types. You can have bacterial 00:11:21.570 --> 00:11:24.669 conjunctivitis. So that's kind of obvious. It's 00:11:24.669 --> 00:11:27.350 going to be caused by bacteria. You can have 00:11:27.350 --> 00:11:31.309 viral conjunctivitis caused by a virus. You can 00:11:31.309 --> 00:11:34.690 have allergic. conjunctivitis due to some sort 00:11:34.690 --> 00:11:38.590 of a allergen in the air. And then you can also 00:11:38.590 --> 00:11:41.850 have what they call irritative or contact dermatitis. 00:11:41.870 --> 00:11:43.850 And it could be due to something that gets in 00:11:43.850 --> 00:11:47.269 your eye that causes irritation. Yeah. So there's 00:11:47.269 --> 00:11:49.690 like a mechanical, like just like a piece of 00:11:49.690 --> 00:11:53.230 dust or some. It could be that smoke, you know, 00:11:53.230 --> 00:11:57.379 wind. can do that. So let me break down those 00:11:57.379 --> 00:12:00.820 different types. Would that be okay and give 00:12:00.820 --> 00:12:02.700 you a little bit more detail about each one? 00:12:02.919 --> 00:12:05.259 Absolutely, it'd be okay. Okay. Let's start first 00:12:05.259 --> 00:12:08.240 of all with viral conjunctivitis, which happens 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:11.720 to be the most prevalent type of conjunctivitis 00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:14.039 of all age groups. It can happen in up to 80 00:12:14.039 --> 00:12:18.500 % of all cases. And it's going to be more common 00:12:18.500 --> 00:12:22.250 in the summertime. And it usually begins when 00:12:22.250 --> 00:12:24.730 you have viral conjunctivitis, it usually begins 00:12:24.730 --> 00:12:28.509 with one eye, but it can transmit to the other 00:12:28.509 --> 00:12:31.710 eye. And so then you could have it in both eyes. 00:12:32.649 --> 00:12:36.330 It usually, so viral conjunctivitis is usually 00:12:36.330 --> 00:12:40.409 associated with a thin watery discharge. And 00:12:40.409 --> 00:12:43.309 you can have, sometimes you can have kind of 00:12:43.309 --> 00:12:45.470 a pussy discharge, but that is not as common 00:12:45.470 --> 00:12:49.080 with viral conjunctivitis. Yeah. So does a thin 00:12:49.080 --> 00:12:51.000 watery discharge, does that just mean that, does 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:52.960 it feel like you're just crying a little bit 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:55.659 more? You can, it just, yeah. I mean, it doesn't 00:12:55.659 --> 00:12:58.179 necessarily mean that the, that it's pouring 00:12:58.179 --> 00:13:00.940 down your face per se, but you know, that it's 00:13:00.940 --> 00:13:03.679 just, it's not normal. You know, it's like, you 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:05.519 know, we've got lubrication in our eyes, but 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:07.240 this is going to be excessive. So you're going 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:08.919 to definitely feel like it. You might have to 00:13:08.919 --> 00:13:11.080 blot your eyes. You're like, something's not 00:13:11.080 --> 00:13:14.720 right here and stuff. And as opposed to like 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:17.460 a pussy discharge, which is kind of, I know that's 00:13:17.460 --> 00:13:19.139 a little gross, y 'all, but it's just that kind 00:13:19.139 --> 00:13:21.379 of white discharge that you get from something 00:13:21.379 --> 00:13:24.279 infecting you. Right. And you can have itching 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:28.039 with viral conjunctivitis, but not always. And 00:13:28.039 --> 00:13:30.919 you can have redness sometimes with viral conjunctivitis 00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:33.399 as well, too. But that's not necessarily going 00:13:33.399 --> 00:13:36.659 to be the diagnostic tool or figuring out what 00:13:36.659 --> 00:13:39.019 kind of conjunctivitis you have. It's going to 00:13:39.019 --> 00:13:42.409 be looking at kind of the whole pattern. package 00:13:42.409 --> 00:13:44.649 or the whole picture to figure out kind of what 00:13:44.649 --> 00:13:47.529 conjunctivitis you have. Okay. So that's viral 00:13:47.529 --> 00:13:49.389 and it affects the most people, but it seems 00:13:49.389 --> 00:13:53.850 to be fairly mild, slightly discomfort. It is. 00:13:53.850 --> 00:13:59.929 The interesting thing about bacterial and viral 00:13:59.929 --> 00:14:02.570 conjunctivitis are that they are very contagious. 00:14:03.070 --> 00:14:08.009 And so you have viral conjunctivitis and it can... 00:14:08.220 --> 00:14:12.120 It can cure on its own, but it can take sometimes 00:14:12.120 --> 00:14:15.399 up to two weeks. And so you could stay infectious 00:14:15.399 --> 00:14:19.279 and contagious during that time period, especially 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:22.980 if you still have a lot of discharge or, you 00:14:22.980 --> 00:14:25.200 know, you feel the effects of that in your eye. 00:14:25.460 --> 00:14:30.279 And antibiotics will not work for viral conjunctivitis 00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:33.080 because there's no bacteria there. So taking 00:14:33.080 --> 00:14:36.379 an antibacterial eye drop is not going to be 00:14:36.379 --> 00:14:39.559 what's... prescribed for you for viral conjunctivitis. 00:14:39.580 --> 00:14:41.759 So if I'm at the pharmacy or the grocery store 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:44.820 and I see something that says antibacterial or 00:14:44.820 --> 00:14:48.600 antibiotic, that is just for bacteria. Right. 00:14:48.740 --> 00:14:52.080 And you can't just look for those. They are prescription 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:54.960 only. So your physician or healthcare provider 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:58.000 would have to be involved with getting a prescription 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:02.679 for an antibacterial eye drop to treat. bacterial 00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:04.019 conjunctivitis. So hopefully they'll be knowledgeable 00:15:04.019 --> 00:15:06.279 enough and they won't give you antibacterial 00:15:06.279 --> 00:15:10.340 for a viral pink eye. Right, right. There's a 00:15:10.340 --> 00:15:13.019 little caveat to that, though. Let me talk a 00:15:13.019 --> 00:15:15.039 little bit about bacterial conjunctivitis, and 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:17.279 then I'll come back to that, okay, if that's 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:19.419 okay. Absolutely. Okay. That's a good little 00:15:19.419 --> 00:15:24.440 segue. Okay. So that is a good segue into bacterial 00:15:24.440 --> 00:15:28.159 conjunctivitis. Actually, bacterial conjunctivitis 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:32.179 is more common in kiddos. And when they get conjunctivitis, 00:15:32.360 --> 00:15:35.320 50 % to 75 % of the time it's due to a bacteria. 00:15:35.820 --> 00:15:39.840 And remember, it's very contagious. So getting 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:42.399 a handle on it to keep it from spreading to a 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:46.000 bunch of other kids is a good idea. A little 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:49.460 bit about bacterial conjunctivitis. It's going 00:15:49.460 --> 00:15:52.679 to occur more commonly in the winter months, 00:15:52.740 --> 00:15:55.080 from December to April is when you're going to 00:15:55.080 --> 00:15:58.820 see it more commonly. And the way it's easier 00:15:58.820 --> 00:16:04.500 to detect... or to tell the difference with bacterial 00:16:04.500 --> 00:16:09.019 conjunctivitis versus viral or allergic conjunctivitis 00:16:09.019 --> 00:16:13.779 is in that you usually have that. purulent pussy 00:16:13.779 --> 00:16:17.200 discharge. And it's the one where you'll wake 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:19.539 up in the morning with your eyes crusted over, 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:23.960 which is not as common in viral conjunctivitis. 00:16:24.059 --> 00:16:26.299 And you really don't see that in allergic conjunctivitis 00:16:26.299 --> 00:16:29.419 either. Now, you don't see it always 100 % of 00:16:29.419 --> 00:16:31.960 bacterial conjunctivitis. So if it's not there, 00:16:32.059 --> 00:16:34.600 it doesn't necessarily mean you don't have bacterial 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:39.669 conjunctivitis, but it is a more... diagnostic 00:16:39.669 --> 00:16:45.889 tool for that type of conjunctivitis. Usually 00:16:45.889 --> 00:16:48.809 it can't, you know, when you get that pussy, 00:16:49.049 --> 00:16:52.009 you know, crusty kind of discharge in your eye, 00:16:52.090 --> 00:16:55.409 you can have a little visual blurring, but you 00:16:55.409 --> 00:16:57.509 shouldn't have vision loss with it. It just, 00:16:57.610 --> 00:16:59.570 you know, it's uncomfortable and it's just kind 00:16:59.570 --> 00:17:01.649 of a pain. Okay. So there's going to be a little 00:17:01.649 --> 00:17:04.349 bit of pain. swelling and that it's just not 00:17:04.349 --> 00:17:06.390 going to look very good and it's also yes but 00:17:06.390 --> 00:17:08.490 it's it's going to be noticeable right and you're 00:17:08.490 --> 00:17:10.950 and you're gonna definitely feel it usually with 00:17:10.950 --> 00:17:14.289 bacterial conjunctivitis like viral conjunctivitis 00:17:14.289 --> 00:17:17.450 it usually starts in one eye and may then spread 00:17:17.450 --> 00:17:20.430 to the other eye as well because it's probably 00:17:20.430 --> 00:17:22.630 because it's going to be irritating so you're 00:17:22.630 --> 00:17:25.160 probably going to scratch it with your hand And 00:17:25.160 --> 00:17:26.900 then you're going to touch the other eye. And 00:17:26.900 --> 00:17:28.579 you might touch your other hand, which then you'll 00:17:28.579 --> 00:17:30.380 go, yeah, because we just can't help but touch 00:17:30.380 --> 00:17:32.220 our face. There you go. We love touching our 00:17:32.220 --> 00:17:34.859 faces. We can't. I just did it right now. That's 00:17:34.859 --> 00:17:38.079 right. You can't see it on podcast. And the other 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:39.940 thing that's really interesting with bacterial 00:17:39.940 --> 00:17:45.380 conjunctivitis is that it's usually not associated 00:17:45.380 --> 00:17:47.779 with other conditions like upper respiratory 00:17:47.779 --> 00:17:50.460 infections. So you can have a viral conjunctivitis. 00:17:50.670 --> 00:17:52.950 conjunctivitis or allergic conjunctivitis and 00:17:52.950 --> 00:17:58.450 also have a cold or having an allergic experience. 00:17:58.769 --> 00:18:00.890 But usually that's not the case with bacterial 00:18:00.890 --> 00:18:03.869 conjunctivitis. And like we mentioned before, 00:18:04.170 --> 00:18:06.950 it is going to require a prescription by a healthcare 00:18:06.950 --> 00:18:10.569 provider to treat it because it's due to a bacteria. 00:18:10.769 --> 00:18:13.109 And we want to get rid of it as fast as possible 00:18:13.109 --> 00:18:15.150 because it's so contagious. Gotcha. And so you 00:18:15.150 --> 00:18:17.789 can't get an over -the -counter antibacterial? 00:18:17.849 --> 00:18:21.039 You cannot. Is there a reason for that? Is it 00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:23.180 just because we don't want to give... I just 00:18:23.180 --> 00:18:26.420 want for people out there, if you don't complete 00:18:26.420 --> 00:18:30.160 your course of antibiotics, there's a chance 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:33.519 of bacteria becoming antibiotic resistant. And 00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:35.900 that is not good because you want antibiotics 00:18:35.900 --> 00:18:38.000 to treat it. But is there a reason why antibiotics 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:40.640 are only prescribed? Are there side effects associated 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:44.559 with taking them? I think that... You know, there's 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:47.420 not a lot of adverse effects associated with 00:18:47.420 --> 00:18:49.400 them. I mean, there can certainly be some burning 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:53.119 and stuff, but I think it's also too... looking 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:55.619 for a for a health care provider to look at your 00:18:55.619 --> 00:18:57.579 eye to make sure that there's nothing else going 00:18:57.579 --> 00:19:00.460 on as well too especially with bacterial conjunctivitis 00:19:00.460 --> 00:19:03.079 because sometimes you can get a cellulitis so 00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:06.440 that means the skin around your lid of your eye 00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:09.480 whatever can also get infected and so you might 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:12.619 not be the best person to determine that and 00:19:12.619 --> 00:19:14.700 so I think somebody with more experience like 00:19:14.700 --> 00:19:16.500 a health care provider is going to give you the 00:19:16.500 --> 00:19:19.829 right kind of treatment for that. And again, 00:19:19.890 --> 00:19:21.670 they're going to look for other things too that 00:19:21.670 --> 00:19:24.430 might be going on as well to just make sure that 00:19:24.430 --> 00:19:28.390 there's nothing else going on. In fact, I've 00:19:28.390 --> 00:19:33.269 got, this might be a good time to kind of break 00:19:33.269 --> 00:19:36.309 over to that. I've got a little, I've got a list 00:19:36.309 --> 00:19:39.589 of times when we should seek attention from a 00:19:39.589 --> 00:19:41.569 healthcare provider when something's going on 00:19:41.569 --> 00:19:46.089 with our eye. And so here is that list. So if 00:19:46.089 --> 00:19:49.940 you have, Not irritation, but pain in your eyeball, 00:19:50.059 --> 00:19:52.779 like pain in your eyeball. In your eyeball. In 00:19:52.779 --> 00:19:53.880 your eyeball. You'll feel it in your eyeball. 00:19:53.980 --> 00:19:58.240 You want to go seek immediate attention. Also, 00:19:58.440 --> 00:20:01.180 if you have significant changes in your vision, 00:20:01.339 --> 00:20:04.400 so not just a little blurring or just kind of 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:07.440 irritation, but it's like I can't see or something's 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:09.740 gone, some field of vision is gone, definitely 00:20:09.740 --> 00:20:12.890 you want to go see somebody right away. You might 00:20:12.890 --> 00:20:14.210 have to get a ride because you won't be able 00:20:14.210 --> 00:20:15.990 to see. That's right. That's absolutely true. 00:20:16.049 --> 00:20:18.829 Don't drive if you can't see. That is very, very 00:20:18.829 --> 00:20:21.890 smart. I hope that's obvious. So if you all of 00:20:21.890 --> 00:20:25.869 a sudden have extreme sensitivity to light, that's 00:20:25.869 --> 00:20:27.970 not normal. So you want to go get that checked 00:20:27.970 --> 00:20:31.450 out. And if you feel like there's a foreign body 00:20:31.450 --> 00:20:33.809 in your eye, there could be a foreign body in 00:20:33.809 --> 00:20:36.150 your eye. That's very different than like a gritty 00:20:36.150 --> 00:20:39.170 sensation. And so again, and the reason I'm giving 00:20:39.170 --> 00:20:41.789 you this list of things to do if you've got these 00:20:41.789 --> 00:20:44.890 symptoms is that. You don't want to lose your 00:20:44.890 --> 00:20:47.789 vision. And so these are things that could potentially, 00:20:47.890 --> 00:20:50.809 if not dealt with, could cause you some vision 00:20:50.809 --> 00:20:52.950 loss. So that's why you want to deal with these 00:20:52.950 --> 00:20:57.470 more acutely, you know, than an allergic conjunctivitis, 00:20:57.509 --> 00:21:00.509 which you can handle on your own. A couple of 00:21:00.509 --> 00:21:03.890 other things are if you've had trauma to your 00:21:03.890 --> 00:21:05.990 eye, then absolutely you want to go see somebody. 00:21:05.990 --> 00:21:08.210 If you've got hit in the face in your eye, you 00:21:08.210 --> 00:21:09.809 definitely want to go see somebody about that 00:21:09.809 --> 00:21:11.109 because there could be other things that you 00:21:11.109 --> 00:21:13.549 can't see going on that you want somebody to 00:21:13.549 --> 00:21:18.509 take care of or evaluate. Also, too, if you noticed 00:21:18.509 --> 00:21:23.369 you've got blood, that you see actual blood in 00:21:23.369 --> 00:21:26.700 your eye or Pussy discharge, like you having 00:21:26.700 --> 00:21:29.460 a bacterial conjunctivitis. You want to see somebody 00:21:29.460 --> 00:21:31.220 about that. Like when you look in the mirror 00:21:31.220 --> 00:21:33.160 and you might see a little, like a burst, like 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:35.599 blood vessels. Right. Because that can mean there's 00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:38.700 high pressure in your eye and somebody needs 00:21:38.700 --> 00:21:42.940 to look at that right away. If you do have, like 00:21:42.940 --> 00:21:45.259 I talked about, that sometimes you can have. 00:21:45.849 --> 00:21:49.190 swelling of the tissue around your eye, of the 00:21:49.190 --> 00:21:52.150 lid or the tissue around your eye, underneath 00:21:52.150 --> 00:21:54.130 your eye. That could mean that you've gotten 00:21:54.130 --> 00:21:57.150 the infection that's in your conjunctiva could 00:21:57.150 --> 00:21:58.950 have spread to the tissue around it. And that, 00:21:59.029 --> 00:22:00.930 again, is a reason that you would need antibiotics. 00:22:02.089 --> 00:22:06.230 And then finally, contact lens wearers. If you've 00:22:06.230 --> 00:22:07.930 got something going on with your eye, you do 00:22:07.930 --> 00:22:10.289 need to see your ophthalmologist or your optometrist 00:22:10.289 --> 00:22:12.769 or a healthcare provider because with contact 00:22:12.769 --> 00:22:17.329 lenses, The contact lens wearers might have a 00:22:17.329 --> 00:22:19.630 weird bug growing in their eye just because they've 00:22:19.630 --> 00:22:21.990 got something in their eye all the time. Also, 00:22:22.069 --> 00:22:23.890 too, with the contact lens, you could have what 00:22:23.890 --> 00:22:26.230 they call a corneal abrasion. So your contact 00:22:26.230 --> 00:22:29.529 lens might have scratched your cornea. And so 00:22:29.529 --> 00:22:31.269 that needs to be looked at as well, too. And 00:22:31.269 --> 00:22:33.430 that's more of an acute issue. So those are some 00:22:33.430 --> 00:22:36.150 of those reasons that you might want to see somebody 00:22:36.150 --> 00:22:40.529 right away, including if you've got pus coming 00:22:40.529 --> 00:22:43.750 out of your eyes for bacterial. conjunctivitis. 00:22:43.829 --> 00:22:45.490 And you definitely don't want that to get worse. 00:22:45.650 --> 00:22:47.509 Right. Absolutely. All right. So we've talked 00:22:47.509 --> 00:22:50.990 about viral pink eye. We've talked about bacterial 00:22:50.990 --> 00:22:54.349 pink eye. I think you mentioned also that you 00:22:54.349 --> 00:22:58.490 can have an allergic reaction and also a dermatitis. 00:22:58.829 --> 00:23:02.509 Or irritative. Irritative or contact conjunctivitis 00:23:02.509 --> 00:23:04.289 as well, too. Yeah, and that's just from something 00:23:04.289 --> 00:23:07.329 like wind or smoke because smoke isn't just smoke. 00:23:07.369 --> 00:23:10.069 There's little particles in there. Right. Another 00:23:10.069 --> 00:23:13.430 thing that can cause irritative conjunctivitis, 00:23:13.529 --> 00:23:16.829 which I found very interesting, was that if you're 00:23:16.829 --> 00:23:21.170 exposed to intense light, what they call snow 00:23:21.170 --> 00:23:24.859 blind, that that can cause an irritative conjunctivitis. 00:23:24.920 --> 00:23:27.559 Of course, living in South Texas, we don't see 00:23:27.559 --> 00:23:32.460 a lot of snow for long periods other than 2020 00:23:32.460 --> 00:23:38.000 winter. Or 20, yeah. But anyway, 21 winter. Excuse 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:41.079 me. Everyone up north is like, you babies. I 00:23:41.079 --> 00:23:44.099 know, we are poor little babies. The other thing 00:23:44.099 --> 00:23:47.160 that can be an irritant to your eye is chlorine 00:23:47.160 --> 00:23:50.009 from a swimming pool. And so all of us may have 00:23:50.009 --> 00:23:52.369 experienced a little redness in our eyes after 00:23:52.369 --> 00:23:54.150 we've been swimming and it's because of that 00:23:54.150 --> 00:23:57.730 chlorine. And then like Josh mentioned too, the 00:23:57.730 --> 00:24:01.009 fourth category is allergic conjunctivitis, which 00:24:01.009 --> 00:24:05.410 can happen in 15 to 40 % of the population. And 00:24:05.410 --> 00:24:08.069 it can actually become frequently recurring or 00:24:08.069 --> 00:24:10.609 chronic depending on your history of allergies. 00:24:11.769 --> 00:24:14.890 It can be seasonal or it can be, so that means 00:24:14.890 --> 00:24:17.910 it may just happen in the seasons. Or it could 00:24:17.910 --> 00:24:20.589 be perennial, which means it could happen all 00:24:20.589 --> 00:24:24.710 year round. Yeah. And we should mention what 00:24:24.710 --> 00:24:27.869 an allergy is, like just mechanically. Like an 00:24:27.869 --> 00:24:32.329 allergy in your body is essentially when a substance 00:24:32.329 --> 00:24:35.910 that isn't a part of you, like your cells or 00:24:35.910 --> 00:24:37.670 the things that you create, and it enters your 00:24:37.670 --> 00:24:40.990 body and your body detects it as a foreign threat 00:24:40.990 --> 00:24:44.630 and it mounts an immune response. to that foreign 00:24:44.630 --> 00:24:46.990 body, which is usually a good thing. But a lot 00:24:46.990 --> 00:24:48.950 of the side effects that happens with an immune 00:24:48.950 --> 00:24:51.509 response are things like inflammation. And inflammation 00:24:51.509 --> 00:24:55.109 is an increased amount of blood flow to an area. 00:24:55.410 --> 00:24:57.690 And if you think about like a water balloon, 00:24:57.829 --> 00:24:59.549 when you're filling a water balloon with water, 00:24:59.670 --> 00:25:03.329 it expands the size of the balloon. And if that's 00:25:03.329 --> 00:25:05.450 in a tight area, that's an increased pressure. 00:25:05.549 --> 00:25:07.710 And that increased pressure we call swelling. 00:25:07.829 --> 00:25:10.880 And swelling can sometimes lead to pain. Now, 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:12.720 if you think about how amazing that is, you eat 00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:15.119 foreign substances every day. We call it breakfast, 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:17.779 lunch, and dinner. And your body doesn't mount 00:25:17.779 --> 00:25:19.680 an immune response to them. It's gotten used 00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:22.119 to you eating these things. But sometimes for 00:25:22.119 --> 00:25:24.779 people who have allergies to things like peanuts 00:25:24.779 --> 00:25:28.460 or maybe even seafood, you're aware that certain 00:25:28.460 --> 00:25:31.279 things that are normal for other people aren't 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:35.539 normal for you. And so in Texas, for example, 00:25:35.660 --> 00:25:38.920 we have these trees called cedar trees, specifically 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:42.960 ash junipers. That whenever they pollinate, whether 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:45.480 basically they're releasing their fertilizer 00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:49.039 to basically reproduce with other trees, that 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:52.339 pollen is actually quite, a lot of people are 00:25:52.339 --> 00:25:54.160 quite allergic to that. Most of the time it's 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:56.920 breathed in through their lungs, which causes 00:25:56.920 --> 00:26:01.039 some fatigue and malaise. But other things can 00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:03.539 also enter your eye in a similar way and cause 00:26:03.539 --> 00:26:05.400 the same effect. So it's all about the portal 00:26:05.400 --> 00:26:08.200 of entry sometimes with allergens. But I just 00:26:08.200 --> 00:26:09.759 wanted to talk about allergies because a lot 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:13.220 of times it's so hard to diagnose what's an allergy 00:26:13.220 --> 00:26:16.160 versus what's a virus and what's a bacteria because 00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:19.559 your body responds and it only has a set number 00:26:19.559 --> 00:26:22.900 of strategies to fight multiple things. So what 00:26:22.900 --> 00:26:25.119 can feel like an allergy might actually be a 00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:27.519 virus and what is a virus might actually be a 00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:30.329 bacteria. which is why it's really good to not 00:26:30.329 --> 00:26:32.970 always assume that something's an allergy or 00:26:32.970 --> 00:26:34.910 a virus or bacteria. It's really good to confirm 00:26:34.910 --> 00:26:37.650 what that is. But if you've had allergies in 00:26:37.650 --> 00:26:40.309 the past, like we've said on this podcast before, 00:26:40.410 --> 00:26:42.329 when you hear hooves, it's probably a horse, 00:26:42.390 --> 00:26:45.029 not a zebra. But if you're experiencing something 00:26:45.029 --> 00:26:47.250 for the first time, it'd be a good idea to start 00:26:47.250 --> 00:26:49.549 asking these basic questions so you kind of get 00:26:49.549 --> 00:26:52.150 at the root of your condition. With that being 00:26:52.150 --> 00:26:55.009 said, love for you to talk about how allergic 00:26:55.009 --> 00:26:56.950 conjunctivitis can affect people. Sure, that's 00:26:56.950 --> 00:27:01.509 a great segue. So again, it's common if you have 00:27:01.509 --> 00:27:04.849 allergies and you develop allergic conjunctivitis, 00:27:04.910 --> 00:27:06.910 you could have what they call allergic rhinitis 00:27:06.910 --> 00:27:10.950 along with it, which means that runny nose, sneezing, 00:27:10.950 --> 00:27:15.410 watery eyes, your eyes can itch. So that's kind 00:27:15.410 --> 00:27:17.789 of all that part of that allergic conjunctivitis 00:27:17.789 --> 00:27:22.710 kind of condition. And again, allergic conjunctivitis 00:27:22.710 --> 00:27:25.869 is most likely going to occur in spring and summer 00:27:25.869 --> 00:27:28.769 months, but you could also get it any other time. 00:27:28.869 --> 00:27:31.250 So if you are allergic to cedar in South Texas, 00:27:31.289 --> 00:27:33.369 you could get allergic conjunctivitis at that 00:27:33.369 --> 00:27:37.710 time as well. Um, so again, again, let us, let's, 00:27:37.710 --> 00:27:39.789 let's just recap. So there are four different 00:27:39.789 --> 00:27:43.230 kinds of conjunctivitis. There is that viral, 00:27:43.589 --> 00:27:47.250 which is the most common that we see bacterial, 00:27:47.410 --> 00:27:49.670 which is the most common that can be seen in 00:27:49.670 --> 00:27:55.289 kiddos, um, uh, allergic conjunctivitis and then 00:27:55.289 --> 00:27:58.250 irritative conjunctivitis. And let me, yeah. 00:27:58.349 --> 00:28:01.589 And also with the, uh, Vax, uh, the virus usually 00:28:01.589 --> 00:28:04.059 happens in the summertime. And the bacterial 00:28:04.059 --> 00:28:06.460 usually happens in the wintertime. Right. The 00:28:06.460 --> 00:28:09.099 viral in the summertime and the bacterial in 00:28:09.099 --> 00:28:10.819 the winter. So if you are experiencing these 00:28:10.819 --> 00:28:14.220 symptoms, and especially if you have kids, most 00:28:14.220 --> 00:28:16.119 of the time, if it's in the summer, the high 00:28:16.119 --> 00:28:19.119 likelihood of viral versus in the winter. So 00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:21.440 something to look for too. And also to remember, 00:28:21.539 --> 00:28:23.880 if you have a more pussy kind of a discharge, 00:28:24.119 --> 00:28:27.519 it may more likely be a bacterial conjunctivitis. 00:28:27.559 --> 00:28:29.220 So you're going to probably need some antibiotics. 00:28:30.430 --> 00:28:33.589 Again, let me just refresh or just review kind 00:28:33.589 --> 00:28:36.589 of the symptoms that you can see with conjunctivitis. 00:28:37.109 --> 00:28:40.210 You can have a pink color in the whites of your 00:28:40.210 --> 00:28:43.670 eyes. Again, remember that membrane is covering 00:28:43.670 --> 00:28:45.710 the whites of your eyes. So if you get, like 00:28:45.710 --> 00:28:48.490 Josh said, that inflammation, that you can have 00:28:48.490 --> 00:28:50.609 that redness. And so you're going to notice that 00:28:50.609 --> 00:28:53.869 in your eyes. You can have increased tear production. 00:28:54.750 --> 00:28:58.549 You can have itching and blurred vision. And 00:28:58.549 --> 00:29:01.069 you can have irritation. So it feels kind of 00:29:01.069 --> 00:29:03.670 irritated in your eye. And then you can have 00:29:03.670 --> 00:29:05.829 crusting of your eyelids upon awakening, but 00:29:05.829 --> 00:29:08.470 that's usually just with bacterial conjunctivitis. 00:29:08.569 --> 00:29:10.809 So you don't always have all of these symptoms 00:29:10.809 --> 00:29:13.650 with all the different kinds of conjunctivitis, 00:29:13.730 --> 00:29:15.849 but these are the types of symptoms that you 00:29:15.849 --> 00:29:18.750 can have with conjunctivitis. Wonderful. And 00:29:18.750 --> 00:29:20.549 well, not wonderful if you're experiencing these 00:29:20.549 --> 00:29:22.609 things, but it's good to know. And I'm sure listeners 00:29:22.609 --> 00:29:25.420 out there are like, okay. Now I know everything 00:29:25.420 --> 00:29:27.500 about the conjunctiva, probably more than I even 00:29:27.500 --> 00:29:29.400 wanted to know. But I hope that for those of 00:29:29.400 --> 00:29:31.200 you who like knowledge, you like knowing more 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:33.519 than you should know. For the people going through 00:29:33.519 --> 00:29:35.720 this condition, they're probably screaming, how 00:29:35.720 --> 00:29:37.819 do I treat this thing? I just want to feel better. 00:29:37.900 --> 00:29:41.299 Well, luckily we've got our mom on drugs and 00:29:41.299 --> 00:29:43.700 she is going to be going over some of the treatment 00:29:43.700 --> 00:29:46.940 options for when you or a loved one is experiencing 00:29:46.940 --> 00:29:50.099 pink eye or conjunctivitis. So mom, what can 00:29:50.099 --> 00:29:53.250 we do to avail ourselves from this? This eye 00:29:53.250 --> 00:29:57.029 of pain. Well, so first of all, there are some 00:29:57.029 --> 00:30:00.529 general things that can be done. Make sure that 00:30:00.529 --> 00:30:03.789 you wash your hands often and you don't touch 00:30:03.789 --> 00:30:06.210 and rub your eyes. It was like we talked about 00:30:06.210 --> 00:30:08.589 if it's in one eye and you don't want it to go 00:30:08.589 --> 00:30:10.750 to the other eye, you got to keep your hands 00:30:10.750 --> 00:30:13.490 off and stuff and make sure that you keep your 00:30:13.490 --> 00:30:15.769 hands clean during this time. I'll definitely 00:30:15.769 --> 00:30:18.569 say easier said than done. Absolutely. But, you 00:30:18.569 --> 00:30:20.670 know, and again, with kiddos, especially, that's 00:30:20.670 --> 00:30:23.609 going to be really hard. Another thing is that 00:30:23.609 --> 00:30:26.490 you want to avoid close contact with other people 00:30:26.490 --> 00:30:31.990 until your symptoms improve. For bacterial conjunctivitis, 00:30:32.089 --> 00:30:35.269 you're going to avoid contact with people for 00:30:35.269 --> 00:30:41.109 at least 24 hours after you've started antibiotic 00:30:41.109 --> 00:30:46.730 therapy or antimicrobial therapy. until the pus 00:30:46.730 --> 00:30:49.869 discharge from your eye is reduced. So you got 00:30:49.869 --> 00:30:52.690 to wait at least 24 hours and sometimes it'll 00:30:52.690 --> 00:30:56.089 be 48 hours before you can go back and interact 00:30:56.089 --> 00:30:58.170 with people again when you start feeling better 00:30:58.170 --> 00:31:01.529 with that. Remember with allergic conjunctivitis, 00:31:01.769 --> 00:31:05.430 I'm sorry, please excuse me, with viral conjunctivitis, 00:31:05.690 --> 00:31:09.349 antimicrobials are not going to work and you 00:31:09.349 --> 00:31:12.109 can have symptoms for up to two weeks. So you're 00:31:12.109 --> 00:31:14.789 going to need to kind of stay away or just assess 00:31:14.789 --> 00:31:17.009 yourself until your symptoms start getting better 00:31:17.009 --> 00:31:19.029 before you start interacting with other people. 00:31:20.250 --> 00:31:24.670 For ladies or for whoever uses makeup, you don't 00:31:24.670 --> 00:31:26.950 want to share your makeup or your cosmetics with 00:31:26.950 --> 00:31:30.049 other people. And any of those cosmetics that 00:31:30.049 --> 00:31:32.170 you were using on your eye before you got or 00:31:32.170 --> 00:31:33.690 while you got conjunctivitis, you're going to 00:31:33.690 --> 00:31:35.750 need to throw away because they could possibly 00:31:35.750 --> 00:31:41.009 be contaminated. You don't want to use eye medicine 00:31:41.009 --> 00:31:43.759 prescribed for someone else. So you want to make 00:31:43.759 --> 00:31:45.460 sure if you're going to need eye medicine that 00:31:45.460 --> 00:31:47.740 you get your own. Gotcha, because they could 00:31:47.740 --> 00:31:52.920 have, it could, for example, if you have bacterial 00:31:52.920 --> 00:31:55.599 and it's just for viral, then it's not going 00:31:55.599 --> 00:31:57.640 to really work, right? Right, absolutely. So 00:31:57.640 --> 00:31:58.380 you want to get the right eye medicine for you. 00:31:58.440 --> 00:32:02.630 Absolutely. You don't want to share. towels and 00:32:02.630 --> 00:32:05.710 sheets with someone else when you've got conjunctivitis, 00:32:05.750 --> 00:32:08.269 because again, it could spread, it could, you 00:32:08.269 --> 00:32:10.150 know, get all over the towels and the sheets. 00:32:10.210 --> 00:32:12.609 And if you've got conjunctivitis in one eye, 00:32:12.710 --> 00:32:16.769 but not in the other, make sure you use a separate 00:32:16.769 --> 00:32:20.509 towel for each eye. And then you don't want to 00:32:20.509 --> 00:32:24.920 swim while you have conjunctivitis. And you don't 00:32:24.920 --> 00:32:28.359 want to wear your contact lenses until your conjunctivitis 00:32:28.359 --> 00:32:30.519 improves. Okay, so those are just some general 00:32:30.519 --> 00:32:33.720 concepts for all the different types of conjunctivitis. 00:32:34.579 --> 00:32:37.799 For allergic conjunctivitis, again, remember, 00:32:37.900 --> 00:32:39.980 there's not going to be an antibiotic that we 00:32:39.980 --> 00:32:42.319 can take to make it feel better. You can use 00:32:42.319 --> 00:32:44.980 cold compresses. What that means is like a cold 00:32:44.980 --> 00:32:47.599 rag. And you could place it over your eyes to 00:32:47.599 --> 00:32:49.359 just get some relief from maybe if there's a 00:32:49.359 --> 00:32:51.859 little swelling there or just uncomfortableness, 00:32:51.880 --> 00:32:56.029 irritation. You could place that there. And then 00:32:56.029 --> 00:32:59.150 you can also use topical decongestants. So there 00:32:59.150 --> 00:33:01.609 are drops that are decongestants that can shrink 00:33:01.609 --> 00:33:05.049 those vessels in your eyes and kind of like take 00:33:05.049 --> 00:33:09.029 the red out. Okay. And then there's antihistamines 00:33:09.029 --> 00:33:11.950 because it's an allergic type of a reaction, 00:33:12.069 --> 00:33:14.130 which Josh talked about, you know, the different 00:33:14.130 --> 00:33:19.170 types of allergies. the different type of mechanisms 00:33:19.170 --> 00:33:22.190 that our body has to fight allergies. Those types 00:33:22.190 --> 00:33:26.349 of cells can be prevalent. Mast cells, eosinophils 00:33:26.349 --> 00:33:29.890 are some of them. And so you can take an antihistamine 00:33:29.890 --> 00:33:33.150 to kind of reduce those numbers to get rid of 00:33:33.150 --> 00:33:35.529 those, you know, itchiness kind of feelings in 00:33:35.529 --> 00:33:38.269 your eye. Yeah. And just to reiterate, mast cells 00:33:38.269 --> 00:33:41.470 and eosinophils are types of cells that release 00:33:41.470 --> 00:33:46.759 histamines into the area of interest. which cause 00:33:46.759 --> 00:33:49.920 inflammation. Histamines are essentially markers 00:33:49.920 --> 00:33:52.380 that these cells will release to say, hey, blood 00:33:52.380 --> 00:33:54.700 vessels, go there. And then that's where it increases 00:33:54.700 --> 00:33:56.859 a lot of blood. So it's almost like playing fetch 00:33:56.859 --> 00:34:01.079 with your circulatory system. And your circulatory 00:34:01.079 --> 00:34:03.779 system will go in that direction. So anti, meaning 00:34:03.779 --> 00:34:07.779 against or lessening, and histamine, so an antihistamine 00:34:07.779 --> 00:34:10.619 or an antihistamine will decrease the number 00:34:10.619 --> 00:34:14.039 of histamines being created in that moment. And 00:34:14.039 --> 00:34:17.679 that's what's causing the discomfort. Okay. A 00:34:17.679 --> 00:34:20.719 couple of other things that can be used in allergic 00:34:20.719 --> 00:34:24.780 conjunctivitis are topical non -steroidal anti 00:34:24.780 --> 00:34:33.090 -inflammatory drugs. So kind of like your Voltaren 00:34:33.090 --> 00:34:34.769 for your eye. It's not Voltaren. You don't put 00:34:34.769 --> 00:34:36.409 Voltaren in your eye, but it's the same kind 00:34:36.409 --> 00:34:38.829 of drug. There's an eye drop. So it's going to 00:34:38.829 --> 00:34:42.030 help reduce inflammation, not by reducing histamine 00:34:42.030 --> 00:34:45.110 per se, but prostaglandin is another thing that 00:34:45.110 --> 00:34:47.690 can cause inflammation. And that's going to reduce 00:34:47.690 --> 00:34:50.809 that in your eye as well. And you said non -steroidal 00:34:50.809 --> 00:34:53.050 anti -inflammatory drugs. And you'll usually 00:34:53.050 --> 00:34:56.690 on the bottle, you'll see something like an NSAID. 00:34:58.510 --> 00:35:00.849 And you might see that on things like Tylenol 00:35:00.849 --> 00:35:03.070 or ibuprofen. Sorry, not Tylenol. Tylenol is 00:35:03.070 --> 00:35:07.349 not an NSAID. Aspirin is, but not Tylenol. Gotcha. 00:35:07.349 --> 00:35:10.130 So we have things like aspirin, but you can also 00:35:10.130 --> 00:35:12.349 get some similar things like that in drop form. 00:35:12.409 --> 00:35:14.769 So you'll see the drop and it'll say an NSAID 00:35:14.769 --> 00:35:17.190 on it. And that's for allergic, correct? That 00:35:17.190 --> 00:35:19.889 is for allergic. And I believe if I'm not mistaken, 00:35:19.969 --> 00:35:22.210 that's a prescription drug. So you would need 00:35:22.210 --> 00:35:23.610 a little bit of help with, you know, getting 00:35:23.610 --> 00:35:26.690 a prescription for that. And then the other thing 00:35:26.690 --> 00:35:30.630 that can be used to treat allergic conjunctivitis, 00:35:30.710 --> 00:35:33.610 and again, this would require a prescription 00:35:33.610 --> 00:35:38.050 as well, is something called a mast cell stabilizer. 00:35:38.070 --> 00:35:46.530 So again, those... those components that get 00:35:46.530 --> 00:35:49.929 released in an allergic reaction like mast cells, 00:35:50.090 --> 00:35:53.530 eosinophils, mast cell stabilizers will kind 00:35:53.530 --> 00:35:58.789 of help those kind of stop being activated. Again, 00:35:58.969 --> 00:36:00.590 it's a prescription drug. It's just another kind 00:36:00.590 --> 00:36:05.489 of medication. Chromalin, netochromol, and lidoxamide 00:36:05.489 --> 00:36:08.349 are the types of drugs that are in that drug 00:36:08.349 --> 00:36:11.570 class and stuff. And that's for allergic conjunctivitis. 00:36:12.139 --> 00:36:13.760 Yeah, so it'll basically tell your mast cells 00:36:13.760 --> 00:36:15.179 to kind of chill out a little bit. Absolutely. 00:36:15.179 --> 00:36:16.860 You're working way too hard. You need to take 00:36:16.860 --> 00:36:19.300 a nap. Right. And usually that's not going to 00:36:19.300 --> 00:36:21.639 be the first line of therapy. Usually that's 00:36:21.639 --> 00:36:23.760 going to be probably for people who just, you 00:36:23.760 --> 00:36:26.340 know, have that more chronic, you know, annoying 00:36:26.340 --> 00:36:30.849 allergic rhinitis that happens a lot. And rhinitis 00:36:30.849 --> 00:36:33.409 is different than conjunctivitis because rhine 00:36:33.409 --> 00:36:36.230 relates to the nose, right? That's correct. Like 00:36:36.230 --> 00:36:39.130 when you hear rhinoceros, that literally translates 00:36:39.130 --> 00:36:42.449 to the king of the nose. Like saurus means king 00:36:42.449 --> 00:36:45.389 of, and then rhino means nose. Like Tyrannosaurus 00:36:45.389 --> 00:36:48.670 is king of the lizards. So rhinoceros is the 00:36:48.670 --> 00:36:50.809 same thing. So I just want to point that out. 00:36:50.809 --> 00:36:52.670 Anytime you see rhino, that usually just means 00:36:52.670 --> 00:36:55.070 nose, not a rhinoceros like the creature. There 00:36:55.070 --> 00:36:57.769 you go. There you go. That's great. We'll remember 00:36:57.769 --> 00:37:01.659 no's for the rest of our lives now. For viral 00:37:01.659 --> 00:37:04.320 conjunctivitis, again, like we've mentioned earlier, 00:37:04.460 --> 00:37:06.659 usually it will go away on its own in a couple 00:37:06.659 --> 00:37:09.760 of weeks. And again, remember, it's very contagious. 00:37:10.119 --> 00:37:12.460 But things that you can do to help alleviate 00:37:12.460 --> 00:37:14.619 some of the symptoms are, again, you can use 00:37:14.619 --> 00:37:17.719 cold compresses or cold rags on your eyes. And 00:37:17.719 --> 00:37:22.099 you can use anti -allergy medicine. So you can 00:37:22.099 --> 00:37:24.980 either take oral tablets for it just to help 00:37:24.980 --> 00:37:28.300 reduce some of those itchy or, you know, kind 00:37:28.300 --> 00:37:32.199 of redness. symptoms and, or you can use eye 00:37:32.199 --> 00:37:35.119 drops as well. That's an anti -allergy and a 00:37:35.119 --> 00:37:39.480 histamine type thing. And you can also use artificial 00:37:39.480 --> 00:37:42.360 tears just to get some relief. If you feel it's 00:37:42.360 --> 00:37:44.179 kind of gritty and just kind of bothersome and 00:37:44.179 --> 00:37:47.019 stuff. Yeah. I love artificial tears. And actually 00:37:47.019 --> 00:37:50.760 one thing I learned about artificial tears, a 00:37:50.760 --> 00:37:53.179 lot of people, I used to do this when I hold 00:37:53.179 --> 00:37:55.139 them above my eye, I wish you could see this, 00:37:55.179 --> 00:37:56.860 but I would usually hold them like an inch or 00:37:56.860 --> 00:37:59.309 two above my eye. And that would be so nerve 00:37:59.309 --> 00:38:01.309 wracking for me because that drop was, you know, 00:38:01.309 --> 00:38:02.809 you'd flinch because you don't like anything 00:38:02.809 --> 00:38:04.630 landing on your eye. So I found this fun little 00:38:04.630 --> 00:38:07.829 trick for anybody out there. You actually tilt 00:38:07.829 --> 00:38:10.750 your head back and put the bottle in the corner 00:38:10.750 --> 00:38:13.519 of your eye. And then kind of tilt your head 00:38:13.519 --> 00:38:15.639 so that when you basically squirt, it's right 00:38:15.639 --> 00:38:17.579 next to your eye too. So you don't put it above. 00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:19.940 You actually put it right in there. So when it 00:38:19.940 --> 00:38:22.679 squirts in, it basically just kind of pours into 00:38:22.679 --> 00:38:24.880 your eyes. You don't have that dropping thing 00:38:24.880 --> 00:38:26.679 anymore. You don't have to worry about that drop 00:38:26.679 --> 00:38:29.119 falling on your eye. So I find that technique 00:38:29.119 --> 00:38:31.659 much better. If you're ever looking to put drops 00:38:31.659 --> 00:38:34.280 in your eyes, definitely YouTube something like 00:38:34.280 --> 00:38:36.519 that. I'm sure I'm not the first person to discover 00:38:36.519 --> 00:38:38.780 this, but it's a much better way of putting drops 00:38:38.780 --> 00:38:41.380 in your eyes. But do remember that when you're 00:38:41.380 --> 00:38:44.420 putting any kind of eye drop in your eye, do 00:38:44.420 --> 00:38:47.760 not let the applicator, the tip of the bottle, 00:38:47.860 --> 00:38:50.380 ever touch your eye. Because remember, you're 00:38:50.380 --> 00:38:51.860 putting it in there because something's going 00:38:51.860 --> 00:38:54.659 on with your eye. And especially if you have 00:38:54.659 --> 00:38:56.980 a bacterial conjunctivitis, you don't want the 00:38:56.980 --> 00:39:00.679 bacteria to get on the tip of your bottle because 00:39:00.679 --> 00:39:02.719 then you could contaminate the whole solution. 00:39:02.900 --> 00:39:05.679 And if somebody else uses that, then you'll give 00:39:05.679 --> 00:39:08.360 them the thing that you're curing. That's a good 00:39:08.360 --> 00:39:10.800 advice. I didn't think about that. So don't touch 00:39:10.800 --> 00:39:14.280 the actual plastic part to your eye. Right. Slightly 00:39:14.280 --> 00:39:16.880 above. Right. Absolutely. Okay. That's good advice. 00:39:17.920 --> 00:39:21.639 And so then, okay, so then the last type of conjunctivitis 00:39:21.639 --> 00:39:23.260 that we're going to talk about as far as treating 00:39:23.260 --> 00:39:25.960 is bacterial. Again, we talked about the fact 00:39:25.960 --> 00:39:27.480 that you're going to need a healthcare provider 00:39:27.480 --> 00:39:30.480 involved because you do need an antibiotic for 00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:33.900 that. Usually it's going to be a broad spectrum 00:39:33.900 --> 00:39:38.199 antibiotic. Things like, usually it's a combination 00:39:38.199 --> 00:39:43.300 of polymyxin, bacitracin, or trimethoprim, polymyxin. 00:39:43.780 --> 00:39:47.940 There are some other individual agents. Azithromycin, 00:39:48.019 --> 00:39:51.400 I think, is a one -dose medication for it. I 00:39:51.400 --> 00:39:53.420 think more likely you're going to get the combination 00:39:53.420 --> 00:39:59.300 trimethoprim, polymyxin, or the polymyxin -bacitracin 00:39:59.300 --> 00:40:01.539 combinations. They're the more commonly prescribed 00:40:01.539 --> 00:40:05.139 agents. If you wear contact lenses, you might 00:40:05.139 --> 00:40:08.460 need what we call a fluoroquinolone, so something 00:40:08.460 --> 00:40:16.400 like ciprofloxacin or levofloxacin. Or gadifloxacin 00:40:16.400 --> 00:40:18.519 are some of the eye drops that are available 00:40:18.519 --> 00:40:21.440 to treat that because sometimes contact lens 00:40:21.440 --> 00:40:23.980 wearers, as I said, can have other organisms 00:40:23.980 --> 00:40:26.559 in their eyes that are a little bit more difficult 00:40:26.559 --> 00:40:29.739 to treat. So there might be, again, another reason 00:40:29.739 --> 00:40:32.760 for a healthcare provider to look at it to just 00:40:32.760 --> 00:40:35.920 make the best choice as far as which medication 00:40:35.920 --> 00:40:39.559 to prescribe. In the literature that when I read, 00:40:39.599 --> 00:40:41.380 let me add this one last comment, and then I 00:40:41.380 --> 00:40:44.400 think Josh has something else to say. I did read 00:40:44.400 --> 00:40:48.360 as well that sometimes for school systems, because 00:40:48.360 --> 00:40:51.079 sometimes viral and bacterial conjunctivitis 00:40:51.079 --> 00:40:55.960 are not. always well delineated from one another. 00:40:56.300 --> 00:40:58.840 Sometimes it's recommended that whether you have 00:40:58.840 --> 00:41:06.000 viral or bacterial, that a 48 -hour dose of antibiotics 00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:08.019 is recommended before the kiddo can come back 00:41:08.019 --> 00:41:11.300 to school. So again, that's unfortunate because 00:41:11.300 --> 00:41:14.949 again, the antibiotic is not going to help. with 00:41:14.949 --> 00:41:18.510 a viral conjunctivitis, but you're also trying 00:41:18.510 --> 00:41:22.010 to reduce the contagion and allowing kids to 00:41:22.010 --> 00:41:23.670 come back to school. I'm not sure I really agree 00:41:23.670 --> 00:41:26.250 with that, but I have seen that in the literature. 00:41:26.530 --> 00:41:29.269 So again, it would be hard for a kiddo to stay 00:41:29.269 --> 00:41:31.750 home from school for two weeks if they have viral 00:41:31.750 --> 00:41:36.010 conjunctivitis. So again, that would just be 00:41:36.010 --> 00:41:38.449 a case -by -case basis with the parent working 00:41:38.449 --> 00:41:41.030 with the teacher to figure out what to do for 00:41:41.030 --> 00:41:43.309 their kiddo in that circumstance. Yeah, I was 00:41:43.309 --> 00:41:45.449 going to say. along that vein. That's a silly 00:41:45.449 --> 00:41:47.769 policy. I see what they're trying to do. They're 00:41:47.769 --> 00:41:50.010 just trying to cast a wide net and hopefully 00:41:50.010 --> 00:41:52.869 catch the most cases as possible. But for the 00:41:52.869 --> 00:41:56.150 kid who doesn't have bacterial conjunctivitis, 00:41:56.269 --> 00:41:58.869 that's not going to be helpful at all. So I was 00:41:58.869 --> 00:42:00.409 going to say, when you go to your healthcare 00:42:00.409 --> 00:42:04.110 provider for bacterial conjunctivitis or whatever 00:42:04.110 --> 00:42:06.900 type of conjunctivitis, Remember, these people 00:42:06.900 --> 00:42:09.320 are people just like you are, and they have long 00:42:09.320 --> 00:42:11.960 days and you might be the last patient they see, 00:42:11.980 --> 00:42:13.880 and they might be tired and they want to go home 00:42:13.880 --> 00:42:16.539 and they might not do the due diligence need 00:42:16.539 --> 00:42:18.699 to be done. Sometimes people prescribe antibiotics 00:42:18.699 --> 00:42:21.760 just because it's, it's easier to prescribe something 00:42:21.760 --> 00:42:24.199 than to do a test to see if you need to do something. 00:42:24.239 --> 00:42:27.260 So I would really push your healthcare provider 00:42:27.260 --> 00:42:30.679 to say. actually prove and actually provide evidence 00:42:30.679 --> 00:42:33.840 that there is bacteria in there. You can do easy 00:42:33.840 --> 00:42:36.739 tests to show that bacteria are actually living 00:42:36.739 --> 00:42:39.300 in your eye, especially ones that cause disease. 00:42:39.539 --> 00:42:41.920 And if they're not present, then there's no point 00:42:41.920 --> 00:42:44.079 of giving you an antibiotic because giving you 00:42:44.079 --> 00:42:46.199 antibiotics when you don't need them is actually 00:42:46.199 --> 00:42:50.190 not a good idea because You can actually, like 00:42:50.190 --> 00:42:52.809 I said before, you can promote antibiotic resistance 00:42:52.809 --> 00:42:55.949 in your body because antibiotics are not specific 00:42:55.949 --> 00:42:58.570 to types of bacteria. It's just to all types 00:42:58.570 --> 00:43:00.849 of bacteria. So if you do have another bacteria 00:43:00.849 --> 00:43:03.590 in your body that will become resistant to an 00:43:03.590 --> 00:43:06.230 antibiotic, that's not good. So we really need 00:43:06.230 --> 00:43:09.210 to limit our use of antibiotics to when we actually 00:43:09.210 --> 00:43:11.449 need to do it. And that actually, unfortunately, 00:43:11.550 --> 00:43:13.889 might fall upon you, the patient, to really... 00:43:14.219 --> 00:43:16.840 Ask your doctor or health care provider to do 00:43:16.840 --> 00:43:19.400 their due diligence and test because, you know, 00:43:19.400 --> 00:43:21.539 we're all lazy. We sometimes want to take the 00:43:21.539 --> 00:43:23.579 easy way out. And that even means for people 00:43:23.579 --> 00:43:25.599 that you're trusting with your health care knowledge. 00:43:25.619 --> 00:43:28.480 So I always think an informed patient is a good 00:43:28.480 --> 00:43:30.780 patient because you're really working in tandem 00:43:30.780 --> 00:43:32.400 with your health care provider to provide the 00:43:32.400 --> 00:43:34.980 best treatment for yourself. So be informed and 00:43:34.980 --> 00:43:38.840 ask for the appropriate treatment. I would agree 00:43:38.840 --> 00:43:42.320 with that. And again, there are some antibiotics 00:43:42.320 --> 00:43:44.639 that are more specific for certain bugs than 00:43:44.639 --> 00:43:46.860 others. And so some of them are not all broad 00:43:46.860 --> 00:43:48.780 spectrum. And even though it says a broad spectrum 00:43:48.780 --> 00:43:50.739 or a broad antibiotic, it doesn't cover absolutely 00:43:50.739 --> 00:43:55.179 every bacteria. But there are going to be certain 00:43:55.179 --> 00:43:57.760 specific bacteria that cause conjunctivitis. 00:43:57.840 --> 00:44:00.260 And those antibiotics are going to target those. 00:44:00.820 --> 00:44:03.960 So I'd say I think that's pretty much what we've 00:44:03.960 --> 00:44:07.139 got to say as far as conjunctivitis. Again, remember 00:44:07.139 --> 00:44:10.400 there's four different kinds. We do have some 00:44:10.400 --> 00:44:13.940 common treatments for all of them, such as artificial 00:44:13.940 --> 00:44:20.250 tears or cold compresses. you know, antihistamines 00:44:20.250 --> 00:44:24.590 and decongestants for allergic conjunctivitis. 00:44:25.389 --> 00:44:28.570 And for irritative conjunctivitis, it's pretty 00:44:28.570 --> 00:44:31.389 much avoiding the substance that's causing the 00:44:31.389 --> 00:44:33.389 irritation, you know, and stuff. So you could 00:44:33.389 --> 00:44:35.389 still use cold compresses or maybe some artificial 00:44:35.389 --> 00:44:37.389 tears to help release some of those symptoms. 00:44:37.510 --> 00:44:39.869 But just getting away from whatever that substance 00:44:39.869 --> 00:44:41.969 is that's causing the problem will help usually 00:44:41.969 --> 00:44:44.730 get rid of that as well, too. Yeah, I think that's 00:44:44.730 --> 00:44:47.679 really good advice. I think one of the... One 00:44:47.679 --> 00:44:49.639 of the misconceptions out there about pink eye 00:44:49.639 --> 00:44:53.860 is that you can only get it from using the bathroom 00:44:53.860 --> 00:44:56.000 or using the bathroom that somebody else is at. 00:44:56.300 --> 00:44:59.039 I don't know how that rumor or myth started. 00:44:59.159 --> 00:45:01.519 You can obviously get it from anywhere. Maybe 00:45:01.519 --> 00:45:03.679 there's a lot of bacteria in the bathroom, but 00:45:03.679 --> 00:45:06.179 there's a lot of bacteria everywhere. But it 00:45:06.179 --> 00:45:10.239 really is just about being in a place where something 00:45:10.239 --> 00:45:13.519 could get in your eye and infect it or irritate 00:45:13.519 --> 00:45:16.530 it. Um, so for those people out there, they're 00:45:16.530 --> 00:45:20.110 overly cautious. Um, don't immediately go to 00:45:20.110 --> 00:45:22.690 the doctor if, or the healthcare provider, if 00:45:22.690 --> 00:45:25.590 you get it, try a cold compress, try an antihistamine, 00:45:25.789 --> 00:45:29.269 um, first. And if that goes away over a couple 00:45:29.269 --> 00:45:31.409 of days, remember your body has existed for a 00:45:31.409 --> 00:45:36.130 very long time. Um, so, um, It's good about fighting 00:45:36.130 --> 00:45:38.710 infections. It's why we still are around as a 00:45:38.710 --> 00:45:41.489 human race. But also sometimes problems will 00:45:41.489 --> 00:45:43.829 persist. And if they persist, and especially 00:45:43.829 --> 00:45:46.949 if you see things like pus, and you'll just know 00:45:46.949 --> 00:45:49.010 when something's wrong. You feel it, the pain 00:45:49.010 --> 00:45:52.210 especially. The list that my mom said, it's like, 00:45:52.309 --> 00:45:54.269 definitely go to the doctor. May I share an anecdote 00:45:54.269 --> 00:45:56.590 with you about this particular subject? Absolutely. 00:45:56.710 --> 00:45:59.369 I'd love to hear it. So, you know, I'm older, 00:45:59.489 --> 00:46:01.650 and so I'm not expecting to struggle with pink 00:46:01.650 --> 00:46:04.610 eye anymore. You know, I'm associating that with... 00:46:04.670 --> 00:46:06.590 being younger. I don't know why, you know, that's 00:46:06.590 --> 00:46:09.369 like not even following my own rules. But so 00:46:09.369 --> 00:46:16.170 last winter, I went shopping to go look for wallflowers 00:46:16.170 --> 00:46:18.250 at a particular store that sells these wonderful 00:46:18.250 --> 00:46:20.110 little things that you can plug in the wall and 00:46:20.110 --> 00:46:23.230 make your house smell better. And so, you know, 00:46:23.230 --> 00:46:25.849 you touch them and smell the candles to figure 00:46:25.849 --> 00:46:28.150 out what your favorite scent is. And so I bought 00:46:28.150 --> 00:46:31.150 my little half dozen of them and went home. And 00:46:31.150 --> 00:46:34.960 two days later, I woke up with a rusty eye and 00:46:34.960 --> 00:46:38.590 I'm like What in the world? And so, I mean, again, 00:46:38.769 --> 00:46:41.650 I hadn't been out that much. And so I'm thinking, 00:46:41.710 --> 00:46:44.050 again, I have no proof of this, but I'm thinking 00:46:44.050 --> 00:46:46.989 because I touched all those wallflowers or the 00:46:46.989 --> 00:46:49.449 candles and did not come home and immediately 00:46:49.449 --> 00:46:53.230 wash my hands, somebody must have already had 00:46:53.230 --> 00:46:55.349 bacterial conjunctivitis. And so sure enough, 00:46:55.590 --> 00:46:57.849 I ended up, so I waited a couple of days and 00:46:57.849 --> 00:46:59.809 I'm like, I've got to deal with this because 00:46:59.809 --> 00:47:02.530 I ended up not only with having the redness in 00:47:02.530 --> 00:47:06.510 my white of my eye, but I also started. a crusty 00:47:06.510 --> 00:47:10.769 eyelid, but I also had the lid of my eye and 00:47:10.769 --> 00:47:12.829 under my eye was also red. So I was developing 00:47:12.829 --> 00:47:15.230 a cellulitis as well too. So I was getting skin. 00:47:15.230 --> 00:47:17.710 So I ended up having to get antibiotics and stuff. 00:47:17.730 --> 00:47:20.789 So it was like, oh my gosh. So here I'm a testimonial 00:47:20.789 --> 00:47:23.650 that taking antibiotics for bacterial conjunctivitis 00:47:23.650 --> 00:47:25.670 really works. And within two or three days, it 00:47:25.670 --> 00:47:27.579 was, it was much better. That's great. And if 00:47:27.579 --> 00:47:29.719 you don't take antibiotics, it could last longer 00:47:29.719 --> 00:47:33.119 or lead into more chronic problems. Bacteria, 00:47:33.119 --> 00:47:34.880 they love to stick around. They love to survive. 00:47:35.500 --> 00:47:37.519 And just the story that my mom was mentioning, 00:47:37.659 --> 00:47:40.300 she loves Bath and Body Works. I get her something 00:47:40.300 --> 00:47:42.300 for her birthday or Christmas every year. I've 00:47:42.300 --> 00:47:44.099 been doing it for the past 30 something years. 00:47:44.619 --> 00:47:46.900 So we hope Bath and Body Works will sponsor this 00:47:46.900 --> 00:47:49.219 podcast so that they can send us free stuff. 00:47:49.760 --> 00:47:51.739 Also so that we don't have to go into the store 00:47:51.739 --> 00:47:54.179 and touch all the things that everyone else touches 00:47:54.179 --> 00:47:57.179 so that we get pink eye. Did I ever get pink 00:47:57.179 --> 00:47:59.699 eyes as a kid? I don't remember. You would remember 00:47:59.699 --> 00:48:03.420 more than me. I don't remember if it was you 00:48:03.420 --> 00:48:06.079 or your brother. I may have it written down someplace, 00:48:06.239 --> 00:48:08.900 but one of you got it one time. So if it wasn't 00:48:08.900 --> 00:48:10.940 frequent, but one of you all got it one time. 00:48:10.980 --> 00:48:12.739 It might have been you, but it might have been 00:48:12.739 --> 00:48:14.239 your brother. Maybe it was both of you, you know, 00:48:14.260 --> 00:48:17.039 so I'm not sure. All right. Yeah, I know. Kids 00:48:17.039 --> 00:48:20.900 get into the strangest things. Well, we really 00:48:20.900 --> 00:48:24.460 appreciate y 'all. listening to this episode 00:48:24.460 --> 00:48:26.260 on Pink Eye. We hope you learned something. I 00:48:26.260 --> 00:48:29.099 know that my mom and I did and looking up this 00:48:29.099 --> 00:48:31.179 literature and helping y 'all out. If you ever 00:48:31.179 --> 00:48:33.820 have any additional questions or any comments 00:48:33.820 --> 00:48:36.159 about maybe an episode you'd like to see in the 00:48:36.159 --> 00:48:38.820 future or about this episode, you can follow 00:48:38.820 --> 00:48:42.539 us on Twitter, your mom on drugs podcast. We 00:48:42.539 --> 00:48:44.780 also have an Instagram and we usually try to 00:48:44.780 --> 00:48:49.500 post our links and sources that we use. After 00:48:49.500 --> 00:48:51.719 each episode, you guys can follow up and look 00:48:51.719 --> 00:48:53.679 at the literature yourself if you're geeks like 00:48:53.679 --> 00:48:57.559 us, because the world needs more geek. As the 00:48:57.559 --> 00:49:00.039 famous book said, the geek shone hair at the 00:49:00.039 --> 00:49:03.320 earth. Am I shaking her head? No, that's not 00:49:03.320 --> 00:49:07.239 it. But I changed it to that. So again, thank 00:49:07.239 --> 00:49:09.719 you so much for listening. We hope that you have 00:49:09.719 --> 00:49:12.199 a wonderful day and we'll see you next time. 00:49:12.460 --> 00:49:14.719 We'll see you next time. All right. Bye. Bye.