Cheryl Springer
If you have not had it, you really, honestly do not want it. And you should not laugh at those of us who have had it. Oh yes, we know you’re laughing although you have tried to hide your smirk at our red, swollen bleary eyes that have us looking like we’re stale-boozed.
We feel stigmatized when you usher us out of your offices before we even cross the threshold, and talk about such things as ten-foot poles. And we feel discriminated against when you claim that you’re having symptoms following a telephone conversation. Oh yes, and interject ‘Red Eye’ in the middle of our names. You know yourselves. Thanks for the empathy.
For me, it began with the sort of pain I imagine I might have had if I ever had surgery without the benefit of an anaesthetic. Eye surgery, that is, because in case the penny has not dropped as yet, I am talking about Conjunctivitis or Red Eye.
The pain (in one eye only) woke me up at 4 am and I was convinced that I had somehow managed to poke myself in the eye while still asleep, it was so severe. Because it could not be ignored, I got up and went to the bathroom and tried to examine it in the mirror. I could see nothing wrong, but oh, I could feel it. Four Advil later and with a scarf strapped around my left eye, I rocked myself back to an uneasy sleep for about another two hours and then willed the next few away so as to present myself at an ophthalmologist’s office at a not unreasonable hour.
By then, having mentally examined all of the other possibilities and not without some sense of dread, I was sort of hoping that I did have Red Eye; at least it would only last a week. I had no idea.
It is the most boring illness to have. You’re basically quarantined, because you’re so contagious. You can’t read or watch television because your eyes hurt. In fact, keeping your eyes open hurt and closing them hurt too because every time you close them you have to physically pry them open again.
I couldn’t get my head around the pain though. My colleagues who have had Red Eye, said they experienced a grittiness in the eye. Well, if you’re lucky you may get away with just a sandy, gritty feeling in the eye. If you’re not, you get the pain.
In addition to the pain, your eyes constantly stream as they attempt to deal with the irritation and then because they are linked, your sinuses begin to stream as well. Misery. But that’s not all. The eye drops you must use, which are really for lubrication, somehow feel like drops of hot pepper sauce.
The first thing the ophthalmologist did, after a pointed look at the soggy bit of tissue in my hand, was to offer me a huge dollop of hand sanitiser. He advised that I always use tissue to mop my streaming eyes and toss it immediately afterwards following which I should wash or sanitise my hands. Well, my hands have been as clean as a theatre nurse’s and I’m sure I have not been responsible for anyone else contracting Red Eye.
Thankfully, by day three, the pain had all but gone and I had stopped bending people’s ears on the telephone as a way of relieving the boredom. I could read and look at the television screen without weeping. More importantly, I could work, despite the fact that the redness persisted for several more days.
It was surprising, given the severity of the symptoms that they cleared up so quickly. But don’t get me wrong, no matter how fast it goes away, I don’t want it again. Nor would I wish it on my worst enemy. It is for this reason that I urge optimum use of hand sanitiser and/or soap and water after, say, a visit to the supermarket, the store, the ATM machine, any place where others would have been before and particularly after you would have handled money.
You should see a doctor if you experience:
► moderate to severe eye pain,
► photophobia (sensitivity to light),
► loss of vision
► intense redness in your eyes
► watering eyes
► sticky coating on your eyelashes
► swollen eyelids
► gritty, sandy feeling in your eyes
The best way to stop conjunctivitis spreading is to make sure that you thoroughly wash your hands after touching or treating your infected eyes. If you do not have the infection, but someone close to you does, you should make sure that you wash your hands every time you come into contact with them. You should also avoid sharing towels and pillows in order to prevent the infection from spreading.
