I'm back!

Finally! My medical leave for sore eyes is over. In my post on 16 November 2008, I mentioned my visit to the Accident & Emergency Department of a hospital (for more details, please refer to A&E).

After a week of staying at home and driving my colleagues up the wall with my constant checking of office electronic mails via webmail from home, I went back to work today... to continue driving my colleagues up the wall, this time face-to-face.

To all my loved ones and friends who wished me a speedy recovery, a very big "thank you" to you. I appreciate your concern for my well-being.

What are sore eyes? "Sore eyes" is a common term for an inflammation of the thin covering of the eyeball and the inner eyelid brought about by a viral infection which may be highly contagious. Conjunctivitis (commonly called "Pink Eye", "Red Eye" or "Madras Eye") is an inflammation of the conjunctiva (the outermost layer of the eye and the inner surface of the eyelids), most commonly due to an allergic reaction or an infection (usually bacterial, but sometimes viral).

Signs and symptoms of sore eyes will peak in about 3 to 4 days, and the person with sore eyes will usually recover in about a week.

(photograph source: Wikipedia)

Sore eyes can spread by contact of contaminated hands with the eyes (hand to eye contact) or through touching of eyes with hands which got into contact with contaminated surfaces or objects. It can also spread through droplets from a person with sore eyes who also has a runny nose or cough.

Redness, irritation and watering of the eyes are symptoms common to all forms of conjunctivitis. Itch and the closing of the throat is variable. Acute allergic conjunctivitis is typically itchy, sometimes distressingly so, and often involves some lid swelling. Chronic allergy often causes just itch or irritation. Some symptoms of sore eyes include the following:-

(a) redness of the eye

(b) eye discomfort

(c) vision is usually normal

(d) pain on the eye on exposure to light

(e) water-like discharge causing difficulty to open the eyes in the morning

(f) runny nose and sore throat

I was advised to observe the following in order to aid my recovery:-

(a) Frequently wash hands with soap and water. Eeks! I cannot imagine my utilities bill for this month.

(b) Use clean tissue to remove discharge from eyes and wash hands afterwards.

(c) Dispose used tissue in garbage bins.

(d) To prevent irritation of the eye and possible scarring, do not use contact lens while one has sore eyes. Thank goodness that I have already had lasik done on both my eyes, so this is not a problem.

(e) Do not wear eye make-up until the problem has been resolved. Again, this is not an issue as I do not wear eye make-up at home anyway.

(f) Use antibiotic or antiviral medication only upon prescription by the doctor. I was asked to keep my antibiotic eyedrops refrigerated. I had a near scare when my vision got a little cloudy around Thursday last week and I was concerned that it was due to the eyedrops. However, my vision seems to have cleared up since. Phew!

(f) If drops or an ointment is prescribed, the applicator tip and infected eye must never come in contact with each other. I have to admit, though, that the ointment that I was prescribed was very oily and very difficult to apply onto my inner eye-lid. Also, after application, it was almost impossible for me to see.

(g) Especially for persons with sore eyes with runny nose or cough, stay in a separate room or away from other family members or co-workers. Yes, some colleagues threatened to quarantine me if I went back to work before my medical leave was over, so I guess the problem of staying away from co-workers did not arise in my case.

I am very thankful that my sore eyes problem was diagnosed in its early stages, so I did not suffer as much as other people who sought treatment at a later stage.

Sources

(1) Wikipedia

(2) doh.gov.ph