Unforeseeable consequences of using leaves to treat pink eye

At this time, pink eye is increasing rapidly in many provinces and cities, including Hanoi. Although it is not a new epidemic, there are still many cases of hospitalization due to improper self-treatment...

At Bach Mai Hospital, we have recently received a number of cases of complications from using herbal medicine to apply or steam the eyes, causing corneal ulcers, even leaving corneal scars causing permanent blurred vision; along with cases of pink eye but not going to the hospital early, arbitrarily buying eye drops to treat... so when coming to the hospital, they had serious complications such as having pseudomembranes that needed to be peeled off, and corneal abrasions.

Conjunctivitis is an easily curable disease if detected early and treated properly (photo source Bach Mai Hospital).

MSc. Dr. Phung Thi Thuy Hang, Deputy Head of the Ophthalmology Department - Bach Mai Hospital said that people with conjunctivitis (pink eye) often have symptoms such as: itchy eyes, red eyes, glare, fear of light, watery eyes and a lot of eye discharge. If there is a lot of eye discharge when waking up in the morning, it will make the two eyelids stick together, making it difficult for the patient to open their eyes. Usually at first, the patient only has one eye, after a few days it will spread to the other eye.

Regarding the treatment of conjunctivitis, Dr. Hang recommends: Patients should go to ophthalmology clinics for diagnosis and advice on appropriate treatment methods; should not arbitrarily buy eye drops to avoid causing some dangerous complications.

In particular, patients should not use herbal medicine to apply or steam their eyes because not only does it have little therapeutic effect, it can also cause other eye injuries such as burns from heat or essential oils. Some fungi and bacteria in the leaves can penetrate through corneal scratches, causing a very dangerous disease called corneal ulcers.

At that time, treatment will be extremely difficult and costly, and the consequences will be corneal scarring causing permanent blindness. In some severe cases, the eye must be removed.

Dr. Hang added that the use of eye drops containing Corticoid must be prescribed and monitored by an ophthalmologist in a few cases. If the patient uses this type of medication on their own, it can worsen the condition or cause dangerous complications.

Doctors also recommend not using one bottle of eye drops for multiple people. Do not use homemade saline solution for eye drops because it is not sterile. People with pink eye should stop wearing contact lenses when they have acute conjunctivitis.

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/he-luy-khon-luong-neu-dung-la-cay-chua-dau-mat-do-post263177.html