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Pediatric Pink Eye

Your child wakes up in the morning and cries out because she cannot open her eyes.  You run to her and notice a thick lining of mucus along her eyelids.  You wipe off her eyes with a damp towel and inspect further – what are normally the “whites” of her eyes are now an angry red.  What is going on here?  Should you call the doctor?  What’s your next course of action?  Can your kid still go to school?

First things first – your child has the textbook symptoms of pink eye.

Wait… pink what?

“Pink eye,” a lay term for conjunctivitis, is an inflammation of the conjunctiva, the clear tissue covering the white of the eye and the inner eyelids.  Inflammation of the eye causes redness, hence the name pink eye.  The inflammation can be caused by an incredibly wide variety of conditions, including something in the eye, chemical irritation, trauma, uveitis (an inflammation of the eye that extends inside the eye), episcleritis (inflammation of the surface of the eye) , allergy, viral infection, bacterial infection, and inflammation of the eyelids (blepharitis).  More serious conditions inside the eye can also cause a red eye, such as endophthalmitis (infection inside the eye) and tumors.  The most common types of conjunctivitis in children won’t  cause any long-term visual damage, and will go away on their own.

Why does your child have it?

It’s pretty hard to tell what kind of conjunctivitis your kid has just by looking at the eye, but maybe this will help:  viral conjunctivitis has  a mild amount of watery discharge, whereas bacterial conjunctivitis has a small amount of white or yellow or green discharge.  Allergic conjunctivitis has a great deal of watery discharge in many cases.

There are many possible ways your child could have contracted pink eye. The source could be from everyday bacteria and viruses to allergens and irritants in the environment (such as chlorine and smoke).  Everything your child touches with their hands can be easily transferred to the eye, resulting in irritation, and then inflammation.

What should you do?

If your child has white or yellow or green discharge from the eye rather than clear, take her to the pediatrician or ophthalmologist for evaluation.  If the discharge is clear but the eye is incredibly painful, take her to the pediatrician or ophthalmologist.  If the eye is itchy or mildly irritated and has a clear discharge, care for it as below and wait a couple of days to see if it begins to improve.  Viral conjunctivitis is like a common cold of the eye.  It may look bad, but it clears on its own rapidly after passing to the other eye and everyone your child knows!  (Or at least it can seem that way.  See below how to lessen the spread.)

Pediatric pink eye treatment is generally uncomplicated. Antibiotics cure pink eye that is caused by bacteria.  Allergy medications treat allergy-induced pink eye.  Viral pink eye normally goes away on its own, and antibiotics are not necessary.

What can you do immediately to lessen the symptoms?

A clean, cool, moist towel can help soothe irritation and pain.  This can also be used to remove the crusty discharge that clings to the eye in the morning. The moist towel should soften the dried discharge.  Then you can use a cotton ball or q-tip to clean the edges of the eyelid.  One MAJOR point to remember: always fully wash and sanitize your own hands after cleaning your child’s eye or touching the washcloth that touched her eye – DON’T touch your eyes until you’ve washed your hands.  Pink eye can be extremely contagious.

 

Can your child still go to school?

Unfortunately, not if your child has viral conjunctivitis.  Since viral pink eye is extremely contagious, schools require a doctor’s note before your child can resume classes.

 

What can I do to prevent my child from getting pink eye again?

One of the best ways to reduce the likelihood that your child will contract pink eye is to reinforce hand-washing and to teach them to keep their hands away from their face and eyes.  As a parent, I know this is easier said than done!  Cutting down on sharing of towels, pillows and other near-face items also helps prevent contamination.

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“Get the Red Out” Drops – Not as Great as You Think

You’ve all seen the commercials for different drops available to “get the red out” of your eyes and you may have used them on yourselves and your kids – from Visine to Clear Eyes to Rohto and many more.  These drops seem great because they promise to eliminate the symptoms of red eyes, but are you aware of their side effects?

The active ingredient in “Get the Red Out” drops is a vasoconstrictor, which makes blood vessels shrink temporarily.  The problem is something called “reflex vasodilation.”  When the drop wears off, the constricted blood vessels relax, often bigger than before.  This may make you want another dose to achieve that whiteness again, and when that dose wears off, your eyes will be even redder, again.  So the vicious cycle goes, on and on.

Contact lens users really shouldn’t use “get the red out” drops.  Since contact lenses already significantly reduce oxygen flows to the eye, adding a vasoconstrictor drop into the mix only makes your eyes drier (narrowing blood vessels leads to less oxygen delivered to the tissues).

While these drops are good for an immediate aesthetic touch-up for special occasions such as a headshot or big event, I don’t recommend using them on a daily basis.  Don’t get trapped into rebound redness that leads you to reach for more drops and leaves you in a vicious cycle – it is possible to become extremely dependent.  Over time, the blood vessels in your eye will get damaged and your eyes will only get redder with continued use.

I recommend artificial tears like Systane or Theratears.  While artificial tears do not necessarily get the red out, they will most likely wash out what’s irritating your eyes and therefore what’s causing the redness.

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Sources:

https://healthmad.com/conditions-and-diseases/should-you-use-visine-eye-drops-if-you-have-dry-eyes/

https://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/dryeye.htm

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Shades that Float!

Remember my tips for Healthy Eyesight? One of the most important ways to protect your vision, especially here in San Diego, is to make sure you wear UV-protective eyewear at all times when outside or driving.   Why?  I’ve seen so many people here with conditions like pingueculum and pterygium caused by years of sun exposure, and those who go out on the water frequently get the biggest dose of those damaging UV rays.

Maybe you’d like to wear sunglasses when you’re out on the water but are sick of losing your favorite shades when you’re boating or waterskiing.  Don’t lose your sunglasses in the water again.  Jet ski world champion Tommy “the Bomber” Bonacci has patented and released a line of “Bomber” sunglasses that are created specifically for active sports in and out of the water.

What makes them so great? They come with a patented foam lining – this means that they float even when they fall off into the water.  The foam also lends cushion to the frame so that the shades fit snugly against your head.  The snug fit keeps the sunglasses on better, and keeps more of the sun and wind out of your eyes.  The lenses are polarized and the manufacturer says they carry 100% protection from UVA and UVB rays and are shatterproof.

Whether you’re an active sports enthusiast or not, these floating shades seem to be pretty handy in the water and great for protecting your eyes!

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Gaga Eyes – This Doe-Eyed Trend May Be Dangerous

Whether you love her or hate her, no one can deny Lady Gaga’s extraordinary impact upon the music and fashion world.  Thousands of adoring fans across the globe have followed in her platform-heeled footsteps by donning blonde wigs, leotards and feathered headdresses.  However, be warned: one of her latest fashion trends has recently been reported to cause damage to devoted fans’ eyes.

Circle contact lenses (cosmetic contact lenses that enlarge the appearance of the iris by extending the colored part of the eye over the white of the eye) have grown in popularity as fans have clamored to mimic the doe-eyed look Gaga displays in her music video “Bad Romance.”  Despite the fact that purchasing contacts without prescriptions is illegal in the US, young women have been purchasing them online from Japan, Korea and Singapore, where they originated in popularity due to their anime-like quality.

While they may look appealing, the FDA cautions consumers from purchasing and using decorative contact lenses that have not been prescribed and fitted by an eye doctor.  By doing so, patients put themselves at risk for multiple eye problems: corneal swelling and ulcers due to contacts that are too tight and redness and irritation due to contacts that are too loose.  The most serious danger from these contacts is the risk of infection – uncontrolled infection can lead to scarring of the cornea, vision impairment, and in some extreme cases can result in blindness.

Gaga is popular for her wild, risky fashion sense, but circle contacts are a trend that might be a little too harsh on the eyes.  Take advice from the CDC, which tells costume-wearers to lower their risk for serious eye injury by not wearing decorative contact lenses.  In fact, why not skip out on contact lenses completely with LASIK?  Perfect vision and healthy eyesight is more than a trend, it’s timeless and far less outlandish.

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Sources:

https://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/14/news/la-heb-lady-gaga-contacts-20100714

https://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices/PublicHealthNotifications/UCM062171

https://www.cdc.gov/family/halloween/

https://newsfeed.time.com/2010/07/07/bad-romance-lady-gaga-fans-rush-to-buy-dangerous-contact-lenses/

https://www.totalbeauty.com/news/make-up/eye-makeup/lady-gagas-big-doe-eyes-makeup-tips-dangerous-contacts-1278562030

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Top 5 Smartphone Apps for Your Eyes

Here at La Jolla LASIK Institute we like to stay on top of the most cutting-edge technology in the ophthalmological world.  One breakthrough trend we’ve noticed lately: vision-related apps for smartphones and eyesight.  From vision tests to optical illusions, these applications are increasingly growing in popularity in the smartphone community.  While we can’t promise that any of these are medically accurate, we can promise that they’re entertaining!  Here is a top five list of various vision apps that we’ve found to be the most diverse and interesting:

  1. NETRA App (Not yet priced: estimated $1.99) – Although this app is still a prototype, it looks extremely promising.  Developed at MIT for the Android, NETRA has gained a lot of publicity recently.  After downloading the app, the user will attach an inexpensive ($2) lens to the screen of their smartphone and hold it up to their eye.  The user will align patterns presented in the lens by pushing buttons on the phone, which is repeated four times (one for each eye’s axis).  Once this is complete, the app delivers the user’s eyewear prescription.  Keep an eye out for this one, folks – we can’t wait for this to arrive on the market.  At first we were skeptical that a product used at near could accurately test for a person’s distance prescription, but the data on this one looks promising.  If it works, it could be a great solution for rapidly screening large groups of indigent people around the world.  We look forward to testing it out on medical missions and at health fairs when it’s available.
  2. Amazing Illusions: Fun Optical Puzzles ($0.99) – This app holds an excellent collection of optical illusions and puzzles that are both entertaining and stimulating.  The illusions are mostly presented in a Q&A format so unless you pick the “cheat” option (don’t get tempted!) you can test your mental abilities and share them with your friends.  Apparently there is a warning not to use this on your pets!!??  So, please don’t mesmerize little Fifi.
  3. Eye Exercises – Daily Program ($0.99) – We list this one because you’re bound to find it and ask about it.  There is only ONE diagnosis, convergence insufficiency, that has ever proven to benefit from “eye exercises.”  AND standard convergence insufficiency treatment requires one piece of equipment — an ordinary pencil!  We bet you can get a pencil cheaper than $0.99, but if you can’t, here’s an app for you.   This app has some other stuff on it too, so check it out if you’re curious.
  4. PseudoChromatic ColorTest (Free) – This app is designed specifically to assess color vision deficiency.  It delivers the user a series of images where a colored number is presented in the middle of another color – this is known as the Ishihara Color Test.  This app also great fun because it provides information on the different types of color perception, statistics on people who experience color deficiency, and the ways in which color deficiency is passed on genetically.
  5. EyeXam (Free) – Since NETRA hasn’t quite come out yet, this is the next best thing.  EyeXam is a vision test app that helps users evaluate their vision with an eye chart using the highest performance method.  There are tests for color perception, eye dominance, and astigmatism.  Its revenue model seems to be to be a paid directory for local eye doctors, so check it out and tell us if it’s good enough for us to be a listed eye clinic.

These apps are a very entertaining way to engage with your eyesight – please let us know if you have tried out any of them and what you think.   Intuitively obvious disclaimer:  no app is a substitute for your Eye MD examining your eyes.  But the next time you’re here at La Jolla LASIK Institute seeing Dr. Nahl in preparation for your super-vision San Diego LASIK eye surgery, you can compare vision apps!  Enjoy. Follow us at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/San-Diego-CA/La-Jolla-LASIK-Institute/101095506604518 https://twitter.com/LaJollaLASIK Sources: https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/cell-phone-app-offers-eye-prescriptions/story?id=11076757 https://www.pcworld.com/appguide/app.html?id=154253&expand=false

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8 Tips for Healthy Eyes

Here at La Jolla LASIK we are devoted to excellent vision and healthy eyes.  While LASIK patients enjoy exceptional vision after their surgery, they need to make sure they devote time and effort to maintaining good eye health in order to extend the positive effects of LASIK for the rest of their lives.  Here are a few tips that will guide you in keeping your eye health in prime condition:

1)    Say No to Guns:Keeping any sort of firearm around the house poses an immediate danger to you and your loved ones’ lives and eyes.  Low-velocity ballistic weapons like BB guns, which are often thought of as toys, are extremely dangerous – every year there are about 20,000 cases of eye injuries and resulting visual damage in young children.  Pellet gun eye injuries are often blinding.  And, I’ve previously written about the circumstances in which a favorite man-sport becomes blinding in this post:  Paintball.

2)    Goggle up:According to everydayhealth.com, more than 1 million people suffer eye injuries in the US each year and 90% could have been avoided if they wore protective eyewear.  So, make sure you wear appropriate safety eyewear next time you are hammering something into your wall, cleaning with bleach, doing a lab experiment, operating heavy machinery or playing sports like racquetball or basketball. While goggles aren’t quite as fashionable as sunglasses, we can guarantee that the few minutes of dorkiness are well worth a lifetime of protected eyesight.  And who knows, maybe you’ll find a pair of bad-ass tinted safety goggles to wear.

3)    Protect yourself from the sun: Here in San Diego, everyone has seen someone with a growth on the white of the eye.  This growth, called a pingueculum if it’s small, or called a pterygium if it crawls onto the clear part of the eye, comes from too much sun exposure.  Here in San Diego, you’ll see it the most in blue-eyed surfers, and anyone who spends all day in the sun.  Be sure to wear UV-protective eyewear whenever you’re outside or driving to prevent pingueculum, pterygium, and other eye disorders.  Good thing shades are timelessly fashionable – look chic and keep your eyes healthy!

4)    Be kind to your hard-working eyes: If you work at a desk in front of a computer all day, there are certain things you can do to make the strain a little less harmful to your eyes.  Make sure your workplace has good lighting, take visual breaks frequently by looking out the window at a distant target, and keep eye drops handy if your eyes start to burn or feel dry.  The mildest drops are “artificial tears without preservative.”  Avoid “get the red out” drops, as they are vasoconstrictors and when they are used chronically they make eyes even redder than before from reflex vasodilation.  Artificial tears without preservatives are so neutral that you can use them as often as you like!

5)    Be diligent about eye infections: Infectious conjunctivitis, or pink eye, is an extremely common infection that also may be extremely contagious!  If you suspect that you have a bacterial eye infection (symptoms include eye pain, green or yellow discharge, excess sensitivity to light) then see your ophthalmologist right away.  “Epidemic Keratoconjunctivitis,” or classic “pink eye,” a bright red eye without discharge, is usually a viral infection, and spreads like wildfire – from one eye to the other, and from one person to another.  Give your ophthalmologist a call, and take precautions to prevent contaminating those around you.  Despite any discomfort, keep your hands away from your face; wash your hands immediately after touching your face or eyes; don’t share washcloths, towels, or pillowcases; and wash and sanitize your hands often.  Your loved ones will be grateful for your precautions.

6)    See an ophthalmologist immediately if you see a sudden shower of black floating spots. A sudden shower of black spots can be the sign of a new retinal hole or even a new retinal detachment, and with prompt treatment within hours, can prevent visual loss.

7)    Nutrition:  The old “carrots are good for your eyes” saying came from the days when produce was not available year round, and vitamin deficiencies were much more common.  A normal, well-balanced diet including plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables will keep you out of trouble.

8)    Go to your doctor for yearly eye exams: Annual eye exams are one of the easiest ways to maintain good eye health.  If you visit your doctor on a regular basis, problems and disease can be detected in their early stages and most likely remedied.

Protect your peepers, follow these tips for healthy eyes! Your eyes will be grateful and working well in the long run!

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