Pink Eye is Not Pretty

Hello, my Pretties...

I'm a little blue.

My eye is very pink.

Ugh!!!  I have PINK EYE!  Gross!!  I woke up Saturday morning with it and I've been sad since then.  My plans for this weekend were to catch up on blog posts, especially add some new eye looks but that's not going to happen.  So, instead I thought I would do somewhat of a public service announcement instead.

Let's educate ourselves about pink eye.

The technical term for pink eye is Conjunctivitis because the membrane that lines the eyelids is called conjunctiva.  So, Conjunctivitis is the swelling or infection of the conjunctiva.  We call it pink eye because it makes your infected eye pink.  I love pink but not when it comes to my eyes.

There are many causes for pink eye.  Some of those causes may be:
allergies, bacteria, certain diseases, chemical exposure, and use of contact lenses.

I think I found my culprit.  Contact lenses.  Extended wear contact lenses, which are NOT the kind I use, are more prone to give you pink eye, by the way.

So of course, let's discuss the symptoms first.

Of course, redness of the eyes.  You may also feel some pain or itchiness in your eyes.  Your eyes may tear more than usual.  You may also experience blurred vision and sensitivity to light.  The worst part is when you wake up with those nasty crusties in the morning.  Grossness.  I guess my pink eye wasn't that bad this time because I have yet to experience those morning crusties but I have had pink eye as a child and I did get them.  Not pretty!

Whether you have allergic conjunctivitis (caused by an allergy), bacterial conjunctivitis (caused by bacteria), or viral conjunctivitis (caused by a virus), you will survive.  You can visit a doctor to receive medicated eye drops that can speed up recovery.  Or, like me, just wait it out.  Average length of pink eye is 3-5 days which is an eternity for a beauty blogger.

So, first off, I had to remove my contact lenses, clean them very well and also clean your contact lenses case. Once they are all clean, store them in fresh contact lens solution.  Now, you must wear your glasses.  So, I busted out my ancient glasses that I hadn't touched in years but, boy, did they come in handy for me.

I'm crying on the inside by smiling for you.
After 2 days, my eye is looking better.
It's better to stay away from makeup until the pink eye is gone.

Now, all you can do is wash your hands often!  Don't touch or rub your eye.  And if you do, wash your hands again!!  When you clean your eyes, don't use the same towel or tissue.  Make sure that every time you wipe your eye, you use a clean section of the towel.  No double wiping!

Pink eye is extremely contagious!!  I can't stress that enough.  Especially among children.  Anything a person with pink eye touches, can be contaminated.  That's how you pick it up.  Even going to the store and you touch a shopping cart that a person with pink eye touched and there you go, you might get pink eye too!  Now I feel like I should be in a big ol' bubble until my pink eye is gone.  I'm so sad.

And that is why, beauty buddies, it's so important that you don't share your makeup, especially your eye makeup and make sure that you toss out the old makeup too.  They can harbor so much bacteria that can lead to pink eye.

OK, I guess I've grossed you out enough.  But I just wanted to let you all know this.  If you keep your makeup clean, your hands clean, you will keep your eyes pink free!!

Luv & Luk,
--L.

♥♥ All information can be found at this website:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002005/. ♥♥