Pink Eye
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Pink Eye - Editor's Choice

| Modified on Jan 10, 2022
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It can be a little frightening the first time a parent sees their child walk up rubbing their eyes, possibly complaining that it feels like there's sand in them. The eyes look pinkish-red, bloodshot. The eyes might be itchy or weeping. When the kid first wakes up, his eyelids could be stuck together. The child might complain that light bothers his eyes or that her eyes hurt. What's the problem? Pink eye.

Pink eye sometimes accompanies a cold or other sickness, and sometimes it is the only symptom. While it is not a serious condition, it is uncomfortable, very contagious, and can cause a child to miss school. Fortunately, there are inexpensive home remedies that will help to cure pink eye.

Prevent Pink Eye from Spreading

Pink eye, or conjunctivitis, is usually caused by a viral or bacterial infection. Occasionally, pink eye is caused by allergies or environmental irritants and is not contagious. However, the safest practice is to assume that it's contagious and act accordingly. If a child has pink eye in one eye and rubs the other, it will spread to the other eye. Pink eye will spread from touching a used tissue or towel or simply from coughing or sneezing.

Here are a few tips on preventing pink eye from spreading:

  • Wash hands often and thoroughly, with warm water and soap.
  • Don't share anything that could have touched the eye, such as eye drops, makeup, towels or even pillowcases.
  • Anything worn or used by someone who has pink eye, such as clothing, towels or bedding, should be washed separately in hot water.

Natural Treatments for Pink Eye

Natural treatments for pink eye include apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, and activated charcoal powder. Several herbs are also helpful, including chamomile, eyebright, and black tea. Always treat both eyes even if only one eye appears to be infected. It will help prevent the other eye from getting the infection.

Continue to treat the eyes a day or two after symptoms are completely gone. While a family member has pink eye, wash towels often. Using disposable paper towels to dry hands after hand washing will also reduce risk of contamination to other family members.

Raw Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

Raw organic apple cider vinegar is one of Earth Clinic's top cures for pink eye.

  • Add 1/4 teaspoon of vinegar to 1/2 cup of boiled and cooled (or distilled) water.
  • Use a cotton ball to apply the cool water-vinegar mixture to the eye several times a day.
  • It can be applied to the eyelid and a bit will go into the eyes when the eyes open again. It may sting a bit temporarily.

Activated Charcoal Powder

Activated charcoal powder can be made into a "tea" for pink eye.

  • Mix 1 teaspoon of activated charcoal powder in 1/2 cup of water.
  • Strain the mixture through a coffee filter.
  • Use the filtered gray water in the eyes - a drop or two several times a day.

Coconut Oil

Extra virgin coconut oil can be gently rubbed across the eyelid several times a day. Be careful to wash hands thoroughly after each treatment to prevent spreading.

Herbs for Pink Eye

Tea Bags

Chamomile or black tea bags are a soothing and effective remedy for pink eye.

  • Boil water and pour just enough over a tea bag to moisten completely.
  • When the tea bag has cooled, place the tea bag over the eye for 5-10 minutes.
  • This should be done at least three times a day.

Chamomile Tea

Alternately, make a cup of chamomile tea.

  • Dip a cotton ball into the tea hourly and wipe the infected eyes. (This is easier to use for a child that won't sit still for the tea bag remedy.)
  • Make a fresh batch daily and use a clean cotton ball for each eye and new cotton balls each time you clean the eyes.
  • If you happen to have the herb eyebright on hand, it can be used instead of the chamomile.

We hope that you have found this helpful. Please scroll down to see what other Earth Clinic readers have found helpful for treating pink eye in children.

If you have a natural remedy for pink eye, please share it with us!

Additional Pages of Interest:

Pink Eye in Adults

The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
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Apple Cider Vinegar

Posted by Mamma Mia (Cincinnati, Ohio) on 02/11/2013
 ★★★★★

Editor's Choice

This is the third time I have used ACV for curing pink eye in my kids. Wonderful! All redness and goop gone in 48 hours. I add just enough ACV to discolor the water, about 6 drops in 3 ounces. Then just one drop in each eye. Makes your eyes sting a little, but just briefly. The first time anyone in the family got pink eye (I have 5 kids), we went to the doctor, paid the $20 copay and the $25 copay for Vigamox for 3 kids and 2 adults. Multiply $45 by 5 and that's a pretty fancy night out. That was 5 years ago.

When my 4th child got it 3 years ago, I used ACV and it cleared up in 48 hours. Yes, his eyes were all goopy and red. I just kept soaking a cotton ball in the stuff and rubbing it on his eyes every 2-3 hours. Then when me and three of the other kids got it, I used ACV for myself and got rid of it in 2 days. I used colloidal silver for the kids because they were complaining of the stinging with the ACV. The colloidal silver worked great too.

Now my oldest just got it in one eye, red and goopy and I started with black tea. I didn't see a big improvement through the day and I noticed his other eye starting to get red, so I switched to ACV. Twenty-four hours of starting ACV, the redness was almost gone. Next morning no redness. I'll continue to use it 3 times a day for the next 4-5 days just to make sure it's gone for good. Just one drop in each eye.

Now my 4th child has it (super-duper goopy and red within several hours)and I can't get him to do the ACV because of the stinging. So I'm wiping his eye with baby shampoo and flushing it out with black tea every hour. I'm also treating my 2nd and 3rd child with ACV 2x/day just to make sure they don't get pink eye. My 5th child is on antibiotics for an ear infection, so hopefully she won't get it.

Always works. Love it. I have used both Organic Unfiltered ACV and regular ACV. Both have worked the same for me.

Milk Kefir

Posted by Matthieu (St-georges, Quebec, Canada) on 11/16/2011
 ★★★★★

Editor's Choice

Instead of using breast milk for pink eye because it's no longer available for our 2 and 4 years old children, we use kefir whey. The protocol is to wash the eye of the child as often as needed with a clean soft cloth full of kefir whey. We had this problem at least 5 times (not close in time to each other! ) and it has always worked! The first time we got this problem, the doctor wanted to give our children anti-biotics.

We (my wife and myself) though that it would be only *logical* for kefir whey to heal that ailment because it was a bacterial infection and kefir (and kefir whey) it full of really strong bacteria that are helpful to us humans, but very lethal to other strong and bad bacteria that our body cannot easily get rid of by itself without some help. It is said that an experiment was done where they put some excrement in the kefir, and after some days the excrement (bacteria) disappeared from the kefir (and the kefir was still as good). Unfortunately there's not much studies done on this in the west and we must rely on hearsays for information about this. Reason : it's not patentable, no money to make from this.

We suggested the remedy to a couple of friends whom their children had this problem and the problem was gone really fast ... After one day of treatment, the infection begins to leave. After 3 days, nothing left.

To get a hand on this remedy, you must make yourself your own kefir (must not be commercial). You must use a good method of kefir preparation (many available online) so that the whey and the curd gets a clear separation after some time. The whey is at the bottom : siphon it off with a plastic hose. You can get the hose at an hardware store. To help with your search, look for a plastic hose replacement used for ice making modules in fridges. When you siphon off, it doesn't matter if there's some curd (white clogged milk particles) in it.


If the eye infection is of viral nature, I don't know if this remedy will help (but should not worsen). But if it's of a bacterial nature, it will surely work for you. And I suppose most eye infections are caused by bad bacteria.

Hope it'll help someone!

Boric Acid

Posted by Bombshell (Stanwood, Wa., Usa) on 09/30/2010
 ★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I've used Boric Acid for all kinds of eye infections. It works faster than any other remedies. When my son was a baby and began to show signs of Pink Eye, I would immediately get out the Boric Acid. I would use about half a cup of warm water and one teaspoon of Boric Acid. Mix really well until the BA is dissolved, then dip a cotton ball squeezing only some of the mixture out (so it doesn't drip all over the place), then dab the infected eye at each corner. Do this two or three times using a clean cotton ball each time. My father is a doctor of Chinese medicine, Homeopathy, and acupuncture. This is a remedy he told me about when I was a teen almost a hundred years ago : ) Don't be afraid to do this to yourself or anyone else. It does not hurt, sting or burn the eyes what-so-ever. And trust me, this works better and faster than any anti-biotic your doctor can prescribe.



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