Pink Eye - Editor's Choice

I had really bad conjunctivitis for over a month resulting in time off work, doctor prescribed me three different antibiotics and although they seemed to start working at first they never cleared it. Then I read about colloidal silver and decided to try it. A drop in each eye once in morning and once at night for first two days, then once at night only for a further two days and voila! It was basically clear after two days but still getting slightly sticky eyes in the morning so continued for two more days and I was cured!

Apologies in advance. This is a bit long, but I just have enjoyed the benefits of this remedy and am thrilled to have this in my self-care medicine cabinet!

I just thought I'd add my two cents because it's been a life-saver for me. It's my go-to whenever I have gritty or dry-eyes or the occasional pink eye from wearing contacts too long (admittedly sometimes falling asleep in them too often). I first found this remedy here because I was desperate. Back in the days of living with no health insurance, too many all-nighters and being a dry eye having, contact lens wearing, cosmetic lover. While working one of my most stressful jobs, I came down with a combination head cold and eye infection that forced me to go to the doctor. I was put on a course of about 10 days of antibiotic eye drops ($60 for a tiny bottle not including doctor visit). I tossed my eye makeup, contacts, cleaned all my brushes and followed the prescribed cleansing with warm water/cotton balls and eye drops and saw it improve. Then the next week it came back—I think it hadn't completely gone away. I went back for a second bottle of eye drops. It didn't work because it seemed I needed to use something stronger or use it longer. In any case, I could see this being a recurring issue due to my lifestyle.

I luckily found this site, ACV remedy and it's happy users. I tried the method of lightly tinting about 1/4 cup of water with ACV, gently wiping with one soaked cotton ball per eye, discarding and saturating each eye with fresh soaked cotton balls (letting a few drops get into each eye). It stung slightly and caused my eyes to tear. By the end of the day (3 applications later), I saw less redness, swelling and gunk. By the third day, there were no more symptoms. I continued a couple more days, but only 2x a day to be sure it was gone and no contacts or makeup for a whole week. I'm so grateful this was shared on here—best ever remedy for me! I even occasionally use it for maintenance to flush out my tear ducts when they're irritated or have been feeling drier lately. I haven't had to use artificial tears anymore.

Please be sure to dilute! As other users have noted, you can injure yourself if you're not careful (it's an acid). If in doubt, it's better to err on the side of caution. I tested it with a very diluted solution at first and got a feeling for what I could tolerate. But, I noticed for me, 1/4 tsp ACV to 1 cup water is tolerable and resolved pink eye nicely over 4 days or so.

Pink eye can be dangerous!

Years ago in the late 1980's my 12 year old daughter woke up with pink eye. I tried tea bags on her pink eye problem but she could find no relief. So I took her to Urgent Care and the doctor there took a test and told me nothing was wrong and it would clear up on it's own. Well the pink eye continued and I ended up taking her to the hospital and an appointment was made with an Ophthalmologist. Turned out my daughter didn't have regular pink eye, what was going on was her body was attacking itself and was damaging her pupils! She had autoimmune disorder! If your pink eye problem doesn't clear up don't delay in going to a specialist! The doctors saved her eyesight but we went though hell thinking she could go blind!

Just wanted to share our story of pink eye.

I woke up a couple of days ago with a case of pink eye that had come on board during another infection, involving sore throat, dry cough, raspy voice, body aches. It mainly affected my right eye, but some in the left, too. Really red, with profuse slimy discharge. I let it go a day to see if it would clear up, but it was just getting worse.

Suddenly, a light bulb came on to check EarthClinic for some remedies. At first I tried ACV mixed with water, which burned and seemed worse after a few hours. Then I tried colloidal silver, which gave no improvement after several hours. Then I tried organic peony white tea (because it's a type of green tea - young leaves), with no effect and it seemed even worse again. FINALLY, I tried black tea, the round tea bags, and there was almost instant relief and some clearing of redness over a few hours.

After the second application last night before bed, today it's gone in my left eye and practically gone in my right eye. I just did another application on both eyes and will likely do a couple more, to ensure it stays gone. It was easy and painless. Just like making a cup of tea, only I put the cooled teabag on my right eye, after squeezing some drops from it into my left. For subsequent applications, I used the cold tea in the cup, with clean cotton balls, squeezing drops in each eye, and cleaning my eyelashes and surrounding eye area with the tea soaked cotton balls. I'm grateful and my vision is still good--maybe a touch better. :) Thank you EarthClinic and everyone who has posted their experience here in order to help others. It worked!

I contracted bacterial conjunctivitis Wednesday of this past week. It was probably caused by wearing my contacts longer than recommended and using an old mascara - both very stupid in hindsight. By Thursday morning, my eye was flame red - the conjunctiva and my entire eye. I couldn't even open my eye in the morning without prying it open - it was glued shut with gunk and dried goop. I was hideous. I was about to bite the bullet and spend the $20 copay to have my FNP tell me the obvious when I thought about apple cider vinegar with the mother that has saved me in the past for common ailments (UTI, yeast infection, etc. ) I wondered, "Are there claims that ACV cures pink eye?" Yes, several people had vouched for it. I mixed 5 parts water to 2 parts ACV and administered two drops in the afflicted eye four times within 2 days. Today is Saturday and my eye is clear and pain-free! ACV wins again!

Months ago, after a week of pink eye and after receiving two different prescription eye drops from two different doctors, I saw an eye specialist who informed me that I would have to wait out my pink eye because it was a viral infection. Desperate for relief, I came across the ACV cure. I mixed 1/2 cup of water with 1/2 teaspoon of [organic] Apple Cider Vinegar with the mother (raw). Then I dipped a cotton ball into the solution and dripped it into each eye every few hours. The eye specialist told me I should expect the pink eye to last up to 2 weeks, but using the ACV treatment it was gone in less than 6 hours! It was fairly painful because I used quite a bit of ACV, but it was so effective!! Also, moisturizing eye drops are really handy if the ACV makes your eyes overly sensitive- just make sure you wait until the ACV has done its job before you use them! Additionally, remember to wash your hands often, throw out any eye makeup you used before the infection, avoid touching your eyes or face, and use a clean pillowcase each night your eyes are infected.

Two days ago I woke up with pink eye again (associated with a sinus infection I'm assuming) and I got rid of it in one day! What a miracle!

I have suffered for many years with painfull pink eye or conjunctvitis and have taken so many prescriptions to just have another reoccurance. I went on the web and found a cure that is so simple and cheap. Take just a cheap black tea bag and steep in lukewarm water. Then take the tea bag and place it on the infected eye for 15-30 minutes. I did this for 2 days and I have been pain free and red eye free for over a year. I was diagnosed with Sjorn's Disease and my eyes were so red & inflamed that I was embarrassed to be seen in public. This is truly a natural cure.