Over the counter medicine for pink eye cvs

In most cases, your doctor can diagnose pink eye by asking questions about your symptoms and recent health history. An office visit is usually not needed.

Rarely, your doctor may take a sample of the liquid that drains from your eye for laboratory analysis (culture). A culture may be needed if your symptoms are severe or if your doctor suspects a high-risk cause, such as a foreign body in your eye, a serious bacterial infection or a sexually transmitted infection.

Treatment

Pink eye treatment is usually focused on symptom relief. Your doctor may recommend using artificial tears, cleaning your eyelids with a wet cloth, and applying cold or warm compresses several times daily.

If you wear contact lenses, you'll be advised to stop wearing them until treatment is complete. Your doctor will likely recommend that you throw out contacts you've worn if your lenses are disposable.

Disinfect hard lenses overnight before you reuse them. Ask your doctor if you should discard and replace your contact lens accessories, such as the lens case used before or during the illness. Also replace any eye makeup used before your illness.

In most cases, you won't need antibiotic eyedrops. Since conjunctivitis is usually viral, antibiotics won't help, and may even cause harm by reducing their effectiveness in the future or causing a medication reaction. Instead, the virus needs time to run its course — up to two or three weeks.

Viral conjunctivitis often begins in one eye and then infects the other eye within a few days. Your signs and symptoms should gradually clear on their own.

Antiviral medications may be an option if your doctor determines that your viral conjunctivitis is caused by the herpes simplex virus.

Treatment for allergic conjunctivitis

If the irritation is allergic conjunctivitis, your doctor may prescribe one of many different types of eyedrops for people with allergies. These may include medications that help control allergic reactions, such as antihistamines and mast cell stabilizers, or drugs that help control inflammation, such as decongestants, steroids and anti-inflammatory drops.

Over-the-counter eyedrops that contain antihistamines and anti-inflammatory medications also may be effective. Ask your doctor if you're not sure which product to use.

You may also reduce the severity of your allergic conjunctivitis symptoms by avoiding whatever causes your allergies when possible.

More Information

  • Pink eye: How long is it contagious?

Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic

 

There is a problem with information submitted for this request. Review/update the information highlighted below and resubmit the form.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free, and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips and current health topics, like COVID-19, plus expertise on managing health.

Email

ErrorEmail field is required

ErrorInclude a valid email address

Learn more about Mayo Clinic’s use of data.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

Can I get pink eye medication over the counter?

Over-the-counter eyedrops called artificial tears may relieve symptoms. Some eyedrops contain antihistamines or other medications that can be helpful for people with allergic conjunctivitis.

What is the best over the counter medicine for pink eye?

What is the best pink eye medication?.

What gets rid of pink eye fast?

If you're having bacterial pink eye symptoms, the fastest way to treat them is to see your doctor. Your doctor can prescribe antibiotic eye drops. According to a review from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, using antibiotic eyedrops can shorten the duration of pink eye.

Can you buy antibiotic eye drops over the counter?

You can also buy the drops and the ointment from a pharmacy, without a prescription, if it is for conjunctivitis in an adult or in a child over 2 years of age. Do not use chloramphenicol eye drops or ointment for a child under 2 years old, unless it has been prescribed by a doctor.