YUCK! Let me start off by saying that this is the first time I've ever had conjunctivitis and it's awful! I went to the opthomologist to check my vision overall, and they said it was fine, but 2 days after being there, I have conjuntivitis! I don't think that it's a coincidence that the doctor and 2 nurses had their fingers in my eyes, touching my eyes, and pulling at my eyes (with no gloves, mind you), and now I have thick, green puss draining from my eyes. :rolleyes: My question is, do you think if I call them back tomorrow (Monday), and explain what happened, they'll call in prescription eye drops? Or would I have to go BACK IN to that dreaded, unsanitary place??? I'm also wondering how contagious it is. If I wash my hands and use my own towel (plus not touch my eyes), no one else in the house should catch it, right? I mean I'm wiping down everything (even this computer) with rubbing alcohol each time after I use it, so I think I'm being as thorough as I can. Thanks in advance for any advice or help. :)

It is very contagious but that's if they touch a surface with it on it and then touch there eye after. Make sure the others in the family wash there hands very often. I'm not surprised though since people go to eye doctors for eye infections and such. Whenever I go to the doctor I worry I might catch something there. You don't really have to go back to the eye doctor. You can go to a regular GP and they can prescribe medication for you. Then when you are there ask them how long your are contagious for after you start the medication.

:wave: Well, I went a little crazy with the Lysol I think (I sprayed down EVERYTHING that I may have come in contact with), and I've decided to only use paper towels and paper napkins in my house until this resolves. It's definitely not air-born, right? Whenever I hear "highly contagious" I always thing air-born, but I guess that's not true in every case... Can conjunctivitis make your eyes swollen? I can't really see either if I go more than 5 - 10 minutes without wiping the puss from my eyes.

I'd also like to ask if anyone knows where to report an unsanitary medical facility? I'm not just saying that because I got conjunctivitis, but because the office just looked unsanitary and the people working there (I don't even think they were qualified nurses) were like "Just tilt your head back" and then squeezed drops (which did not look like they were in clean bottles) into my eyes, while prying my eyes open with no gloves. That just doesn't seem right. Not to mention the woman was sick and kept sniffling and wiping her nose. Ugh I wish I would have listened to myself and left after I saw that and left! But I just assumed "It's a doctor's office... It's clean" and stayed. :nono: Never again!

Generally my ophthalmologist does not wear gloves when he is examining my eyes. That would be very irritating to me. He has anti-bacterial hand sanitizer in every room and he uses it between every patient. Most doctors don't wear gloves when they are examining you unless they are doing some sort of surgery. But they're supposed to WASH THEIR HANDS!!!! My doctor and his staff do not wear gloves when they examine me, and I have never caught anything from them. And, I come to him with conjunctivitis and he touches my eye, he always makes sure to wash his hands for an extra minute before he touches the next patient. I also always see them wipe their machines down with alcohol swabs before I sit down.

You might not have caught it from the doctor or his staff though. If anybody else with conjunctivitis was even just sitting in close proximity to you in the waiting room, you could have caught it from them. My ophthalmologist says viral conjunctivitia can be airborne in close quarters. I caught it once just from being in the car with my friend who had it.

Unfortunately most doctors will not just prescribe eyedrops for you over the phone. They need to see if this infection is viral or bacterial, and the only way to do that is to be examined.

I've always heard that it's not airborne if it was I would think it would spread a lot more then it does. I have only had it once in my life but I have had a cold almost every year or two for my whole life. So it's obviously not as contagous as a cold. Like the previous poster said you could have gotten it from the chairs in the waiting room or someone in there. I always avoid touching magazines or try not to touch the arms of chairs in any doctors office. Just be as careful as you can and if someone else gets it well then they'll just have to use medication too. I remember when I had it my eyes would constantly be making this yellow whitish gunk and my eyes would be sealed shut when I woke up in the morning. Also if you wear contact lenses you should take a break from wearing them and make sure do disinfect them very well before using them again once your infection is gone.

I'd also suggest finding another opthalmologist, for the next time you have any problem. What could it hurt to just make a change?