Pinkeye—Corneal Disorders

Your cornea is the outermost layer of your eye. It is clear and shaped like a dome. The cornea helps to shield the rest of the eye from germs, dust, and other harmful matter. It also helps your eye to focus. If you wear contact lenses, they float on top of your corneas.

Problems with the cornea include

• Refractive errors
• Allergies
• Infections
• Injuries
• Dystrophies – conditions in which parts of the cornea lose clarity due to a buildup of cloudy material

Treatments of corneal disorders include medicines, corneal transplantation, and corneal laser surgery.

NIH: National Eye Institute

• Cloudy cornea (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Corneal injury (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Corneal transplant (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Corneal ulcers and infections (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Fuchs dystrophy (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Keratoconus (Medical Encyclopedia)

Also called: Conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis is the medical name for pink eye. It involves inflammation of the outer layer of the eye and inside of the eyelid. It can cause swelling, itching, burning, discharge, and redness. Causes include

• Bacterial or viral infection
• Allergies
• Substances that cause irritation
• Contact lens products, eye drops, or eye ointments

Pinkeye usually does not affect vision. Infectious pink eye can easily spread from one person to another. The infection will clear in most cases without medical care, but bacterial pinkeye needs treatment with antibiotic eye drops or ointment.

NIH: National Eye Institute

• Allergic conjunctivitis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Conjunctivitis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Vernal conjunctivitis (Medical Encyclopedia)