School is right around the corner, and so are the germs and sicknesses that come with it. Of them all, conjunctivitis - or pink eye - can be the most irritating and hard to diagnose. It’s also one of the most common infectious diseases in school-age children. To make it easier on you this school year, here are a few tips to teach your kids to keep this itchy infection out of your home:
Stay Clean
The first rule of preventing sickness is to teach your children the importance of staying clean – especially their hands and eyes. Teach them to cover their mouth when they sneeze or cough and to avoid touching their eyes afterward. Another thing to help with the prevention of pink eye is changing pillowcases. Pillowcases can carry infectious germs that have easy access to your children’s eyes as they sleep. Keeping a clean and sanitary environment not only helps health overall but also is a big attribute to preventing pink eye.Be Selfish
It may be hard to hush your inner Minnesota nice, but it’s a necessity when preventing pink eye. Sharing things such as wash clothes, linens, eye makeup, and tissues can cause pink eye and other infections in the eyes. Encourage your children to keep these types of items to themselves and not to accept them from other children.The number one thing to never share on any occasion is contact lenses or the accessories that go with them. They can carry contagious infections and cause irritating symptoms.
Be a Homebody
This tip is only necessary if you, your child, or someone close to you has pink eye. A crucial thing in preventing it from spreading to others is to stay home during the contagious stage. Pink eye is easily contracted with close contact, which is why it’s so prevalent in teachers and students who are consistently in close contact with others. One should wait until the discharge and redness is gone from the eye before going back to work/school/daily life routine.Pink eye can be irritating, disgusting, and even unbearable for some. Hopefully, these tips will provide you and your family with the necessary knowledge you need to prevent pink eye – or if you already have contracted it, the knowledge to not spread it. If you think you have pink eye, the most important step to take is to visit the eye doctor and get diagnosed. Catching pink eye soon after you are infected and starting the medicine you will need to get rid of it will drastically lessen your symptoms and shorten your recovery time. Infinite Eye Care offers an urgent care and pink eye service just for that reason.
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