Question
I haven’t paid much attention to my appearance lately. But yesterday, I noticed blood vessels in my left eye ball, and it’s been a bit painful since then. What’s going on?
Answer
You have conjunctivitis, a common eye condition. Since the conjunctiva is mostly in direct contact with the outside world, it’s prone to infection from the surrounding environment. However, most cases are viral. Acute viral conjunctivitis can be treated with alternating use of cortisone eye drops and ribavirin eye drops to alleviate bacterial conjunctivitis. If the condition is severe, antibiotics solutions or ointments, such as chloramphenicol eye drops, as well as oral or injectable antibiotics, such as penicillin, should be used.