Three Ways to Help Your Family Avoid Pink Eye

School is back in full swing and as the weather gets colder, the germs seem to get nastier!

One thing that I don’t love about my children going off to school each day is wondering what else they are bringing home with them.  I know that in addition to remainders of their lunch and their homework folders, there are probably thousands of germs that have jumped on for the ride back to our home.

Yikes.

Pink eye, or conjunctivitis, is one of the most contagious illnesses out there.  It spreads so easily from person to person with just a touch of an infected eye and then a follow up touch of a often used surface, like a water fountain handle, kids can pick it up.

So, how do you help protect your family from conjunctivitis?  Here are a few ways that we try to keep these germs at bay.

1. Make Hand Washing The First Stop

As soon as my children walk through the door I make them wash their hands with warm soapy water.  They want a snack and a drink right away, but before they do anything else, we try to enforce the “wash-up” rule so that any germs on their hands don’t find their way all over their faces and our home.

2.  Encourage Them To Not Touch Their Face

Most germs that cause any kind of illness find their way into our bodies through openings like our noses, mouths and eyes.  I encourage my children to not touch their faces, period.

It’s difficult when they want to chew on their nails or (sadly) pick their noses!  But, I try to emphasize just how easy it is to get sick when you are always bringing germy hands up to your face.  For pink eye especially, rubbing a hand that has been exposed to the virus or bacteria on your eye is all it takes to contract it.

3.  Watch for Signs of Pink Eye

If you notice your child rubbing at his eyes or if there is mucous like goo coming out of them in the morning, be on watch for other signs of pink eye, too.  Sometimes my children have runny or itchy eyes as part of seasonal allergies, but at the first sign of eye problems, I insist they wash their hands more, instruct them not to touch one eye and then the other, and encourage them to tell me how their eyes are feeling.

If they complain of eye pain or the amount of “goo” increases, do what I do and call your closest America’s Best optometrist for them to be seen and get treatment right away.