Health Tip for Travelers in Thailand

Antika J. Klein, MD
Bangkok Hospital Samui

Has the following scenario ever happened to you before?

Upon awakening in the morning you find it difficult to open one or both of your eyes due to crusty substances gluing your eyelids together. Along with that you feel a fever coming on. Your eye(s) are itchy and might even hurt. When you finally get the gunk out of your eye, you see in the mirror that your eye(s) are red and your eyelids swollen. You might even find that you have tears all the time.

If this sounds familiar, you know that you have got a case of red eye or in medical terms, conjunctivitis.

Conjunctivitis can be caused by many organisms including plain old allergies. Due to the variety of causes, treatment also differs. Usually the proper eye drops and cold compresses on your eye do the trick, but it is safer and wiser to see an ophthalmologist (eye doctor) for a professional opinion. He will be able to look closely at your eye(s) with his equipment to ensure that you have just red eye and do not have any injuries to your cornea or anything more serious. If you have a corneal scar, eye drops are not enough.

Basic steps to follow when you think you have red eye:
1. go to the ophthalmologist
2. stop wearing contact lenses
3. stop using your current cosmetics
4. throw away current eye cosmetics
5. keep your hands clean, do not rub one eye and then touch the other, or else you increase transmission of disease
6. avoid wind and smoke
7. continue the eye drops and ointments as prescribed
8. keep your eyelids clean with wet cloth up to 4 times a day
9. put cool compresses on your eyelids up to 4 times a day