conjunctivitis, dry eyes and foreign bodies are the common causes of red eyes in general practice
treat as an emergency anything you don't come across regularly including iritis, acute glaucoma and ophthalmic herpes. Ophthalmology is a vast subject and delay can quickly lead to a blind eye
steroids must be avoided unless you are absolutely sure the eye is not infected such as in recurring iritis
be suspicious of a unilateral red eye - infective conjunctivitis is usually bilateral by the time it presents
itching is nearly always allergy - Cromoglycate (aqueous) is safe and works well but Nedocromil needs to be used less often
to instil eyedrops, pull down lower lid especially in children: the lid is much less sensitive than the eyeball
Chloramphenicol causes aplastic anaemia so extremely rarely
can cause allergic blepharitis in chronic use
chloramphenicol eye drops must not be given to a child less than 2 years old as it contains boron and may impair fertility in the future
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