Easy method for resolving pinkeye by harnessing the power of probiotics. No meds needed!
Pinkeye, also called conjunctivitis or madras eye, is an extremely contagious bacterial or viral infection. The illness involves the outermost layer of the eye and the inside surface of the eyelid.
It is a common seasonal condition when pollen counts are high, allergies are running rampant, and immunity for most people is very low from moderate to severe vitamin D deficiency. This problem is compounded from being inside all winter out of the vitamin D producing rays of the sun.
Symptoms of Pinkeye
Symptoms of pinkeye include redness, itching, tearing, swelling, and/or mucous production that can firmly cement the eyelids together while sleeping. I remember getting pinkeye as a child and feeling a bit of panic upon waking in the morning and being unable to open one or both eyes!
If this happens to you or a loved one in your home, a warm, wet washcloth compress gently applied to the infected eye (do not rub) quickly dissolves the mucous allowing the eyes to open.
Conjunctivitis is Extremely Contagious
Pinkeye can spread rapidly through a household, which is why action is needed immediately to stop the infection. Most people will quickly run to the doctor’s office at the first sign of redness and irritation.
A prescription for antibiotic eye drops or ointment is the usual conventional remedy. Relief is mercifully quick once the drops are applied. Before the wonderful sensation of relief can be experienced, however, the inconvenience of booking a doctor’s appointment, waiting to be examined, driving to the pharmacy, and getting the prescription filled must be endured.
Additional hassles involve missing work and/or school for the parent and child. Add to this the expense of the visit and filling the prescription which combined could easily total $50 or even more.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to just fix this simple infection at home with none of the intervening steps?
Simple Home Remedy
You’ll be happy to know that pinkeye is one of the simplest and easiest infections to cure at home with no trip to the doctor required. Even better, what you need to fix the problem may already be sitting in your refrigerator. The remedy I’m speaking of harnesses the power of beneficial bacteria to eliminate the infection.
While doctors prescribe ANTI-biotics to kill the pathogens, PRO-biotics work just as well for a minor infection such as pinkeye by crowding them out.
Harness the Power of Probiotics
What you need to remedy pinkeye is a probiotic-rich, non-acidic liquid. For babies and children, the most effective liquid that fits this description is human breastmilk.
If the Mom in your household happens to be breastfeeding, a drop or two of breastmilk expressed into a cup and then applied with a clean eyedropper to the infected eye will rapidly and magically eliminate the infection. First milk or colostrum works even faster (note that colostrum supplements do not work).
Reapplication may be necessary every hour for a few hours, but in almost every case, the infection will be gone well before you could have even gotten an appointment to see the doctor. This remedy works well for newborn babies also, so no need for the eyedrops that are used immediately after birth if you plan to breastfeed.
Probiotic Options
If there is no one breastfeeding in your home, the next best thing would be a few drops of raw cow or goat milk applied to each eye.
I recommend treating both eyes even if only one is showing signs of infection, by the way.
Pinkeye is so contagious, that treating only the infected eye will usually result in having to treat the other eye within a short time anyway, so might as well do both from the beginning.
Raw cow or goat milk is loaded with immunity-boosting probiotics, just like human breastmilk. These beneficial bacteria work immediately on contact to crowd out and eliminate the pathogens at the source of the infection.
The probiotic strains in fresh, unprocessed dairy are especially suited for clearing a pinkeye infection.
Reapplication every hour or so should eliminate the infection quickly, perhaps not quite as fast as breastmilk, but still faster by a long shot than getting to the doctor and filling a prescription.
Note that pasteurized or organic store milk also does not work because they contain no probiotics.
Other Sources of Beneficial Microbes
No fresh from the cow dairy easily available where you live?
You can also mix the contents of a probiotic capsule in a few ounces of water and drip a few drops into the eye.
I recommend this baby probiotic brand as it the strain found in breastmilk and has no other additives.
This has been known to work as well.
Frequent Pinkeye May Indicate Nutritional Deficiency
Are you or any members of your family suffering from pinkeye symptoms on a frequent basis? If so, consider adding a cod liver oil supplement to your daily regimen.
This is the brand my family has used since 2015.
Deficiency in vitamin A, one of the most critical vitamins for optimal eye health, can result in frequent pinkeye infections. Incidentally, it also contributes to other illnesses such as croup and night blindness.
Unprocessed cod liver oil that is tested free of impurities is the best source of natural Vitamin A.
If the cod liver oil is processed (most brands are), then the Vitamin A is most likely synthetic.
This is because it has been destroyed by heat or chemical processing. Synthetic vitamin A does not have the same benefits for the eyes.
Multivitamins have the same problem. They contain only synthetic vitamin A or beta carotene. Note that beta carotene is not true vitamin A.
It is a precursor that the body must convert to true vitamin A. Many people simply do not make this conversion very well especially if they have any sort of digestive problems.
How Long Until Improvement?
The pinkeye home remedy described in this article should resolve the infection rapidly.
Usually, symptoms improve within hours. After a few applications, the eye should be fine within 24 hours.
If not, the infection may be viral in nature or related to some other underlying condition. Seeing a doctor is recommended at that point.
Works for Pets Too!
Keep in mind that this pinkeye home remedy doesn’t just work for children and adults.
Believe it or not, this home remedy is also safe to use on pets who have any sort of eye-related bacterial issues.
I’ve personally used it on guinea pigs and cats over the years with great success.
I am so disgusted by everything written here. Here’s why. How many of you lovely ladies actually know you have “pinkeye” Are you sure that’s what you have? How many of you went to school and know how to use a slit lamp on yourself or your child and have one in your home? Do you know that while using home rememdies are great when you know for sure playing with something you know nothing about is really dumb. Having been in eye care industry for over 20 years and seeing the damage home rememedies do please stop giving out advise..By the way corneal ulcers, keratitis, etc start out looking like “pinkeye” oh wait you can’t tell the differerce???? Maybe seeing a eyecare professional is the best thing to do
and when we take our kids to the pediatrician, they don’t know what it is either and just prescribe an antibiotic.
Do the natural remedies address the contagious factor. I teach the young ones and pinkeye will travel through a classroom quickly.
I hear coconut milk works is that true?
Breastmilk is not sterile. It’s not sterile inside the body and it’s not sterile outside the body. That finding was debunked. Not to sound like a know-it-all but a 10 sec google search on the subject will tell you all about it.
I have always been told that you clean your hands and your nipple and then squirt the breastmilk directly into the eye. I did it when my baby had a clogged duct in his eye. My friend’s dr actually recommended it to her for her baby.
A clogged tear duct almost always resolves on its own. Breastmilk will not help
You’re probably the kind of “doctor” who counseled new mothers to feed their babies soy formula as a superior choice to their own breastmilk. I wonder how many nice vacations you’ve earned from Bayer or Pfizer as a reward for destroying innocent, trusting people’s health with your seeping evil venom.
I just read your blog and I learned a lot from you. I will include into my cleaning routine. But I work as a residential lighting sales person, I do not recommend to clean lighting fixture with any chemical cleaners. The chemicals in household cleaners will damage the finish and the glass pieces of your fixtures. It may not happen next day but eventually the finish or coating on the glass peels off. The newer fixtures you have, you need to be more careful. Please do this, just drop a dishwashing liquid on a wet soft cloth, and then ring it tightly. Wipe the fixture with the cloth only. NEVER put the glass pieces in a dishwasher.
I used the breast milk method to reat pink eye MANY times, always successfully, with all 3 of my children. It works. And it is highly annoying to hear you say it is absurd. You clearly know not of what you speak.
Breast Milk comes from INSIDE the human body. My understanding is that unless there is an infection INSIDE the breast or around the nipple, breast milk does not have bacteria in it at ALL. Although I wouldn’t necessarily think that unpasturized cow and goat milk would be safe (there could be contamination before getting into the eye since they live outdoors and their nipples are likely not as clean as a humans) to put into the eye or any mucous membrane either. Of COURSE modern medicine would NOT approve of home remedies in general but people shouldn’t let it dissuade them. Do your research. There is nothing more natural than breastmilk and although I’m not saying it cures pink eye, it can’t hurt either. With SUPER germs in today’s society and anti-biotics that aren’t working anymore, many people have gone to home remedies. Breast Milk is a tried and true cure for lots of things and has been used for CENTURIES, much longer than today’s antibiotics. Personally, I’d rather try a home remedy before I’d rush my children to the doctor to wait in a waiting room with illnesses my kids have NEVER seen. I think it’s poor taste to respond to this lady’s post with such disrespect. Take the advice or leave it. Read the recommendation or don’t. Just because you are an eye “doctor” doesn’t give you the right. Just saying!
It’s important for the readers to know both sides of this advice.
I use home remedies myself for plenty of ailments but this is an absurd idea to treat pink eye. Your eyes are the only pair you have. You are putting your child at risk for the infection to worsen by not taking him/her to the doctor. Sadly, there are too many PREVENTABLE cases where delayed care leaves a child with scars on his/her eyes ruining their vision for the rest of their lives. Do not use these methods for treating pink eye.
I don’t know about you Dr. Kim, but being in the medical field, I find talking to some people is much like talking to a doorknob. You explain why they shouldn’t do something and give sound reasons–they already know better. Lynnie commented above that a doctor has no right to give his medical opinion in his hopes he may prevent someone from doing harm to their eyes. Holy cow, if I were about to do something I thought was a great idea that could possibly cause harm, I would be thankful for his two cents. And Lynnie–you’re right about their being no bacteria in breastmilk as a body fluid–while its still INSIDE the body–once is leaves the body its kind of a magnet for bacteria–which is not harmful to the digestive tract but could potentially harm eyes which do not have digestive enzymes. Seriously ladies–home remedies can be awesome–but don’t be so stuck on yourselves that you can’t take well-intended advice without getting offended. I get it that Dr. Prince came off sounding like a know-it-all but come on already and grow up. The advice he gave was smart and ultimately was intended to help people see the need to treat a condition properly.
Chamomile tea (make sure to let it cool before dropping/rinsing out your eyes with it) work great as well.
Thank goodness someone with the facts is speaking up to explain why this really isn’t a good idea–I’m a nurse and also a breast feeding mommy–but I know breastmilk dosen’t belong in your eyes–kudos for providing the medical rationale as to why– sad to say you’ll probably have 10 posts after yours that are mad for you poo pooing thieir remedy though…
I am also a nurse however when our pediatrician recommended two drops of breast milk in our daughter’s eyes twice a day I was skeptical. I did try it and it worked great for clearing up her gunky eyes. I realize there are different causes for pink eye and that breast milk will not work on them all. Just like every other remedy we have doctors that will swear by medicine and medicine only and then we have the doctors that are smart enough to realize that there are home remedies that work just as well maybe even better at times. Some of us in this profession are actually here to help our patients not just treat and make money off of them. Don’t take offense I am not say you personally fit this category.
It is my opinion that Sarah is misinformed about what “pink eye” is and how to treat it. Let me respond to some of her points:
“It is a common condition this time of year, when pollen counts are high, allergies are running rampant, and immunity for most people is very low from moderate to severe vitamin D deficiency (from being inside all winter out of the sun).”
No. True bacterial or viral “pink eye” is not related to allergies or pollen counts or immunity or vitamin D deficiency. None of that. “Allergic conjunctivitis” can cause some similar symptoms as bacterial and viral “pink eye”, but of course allergies are neither bacteria nor virus. She is confusing contagious pathogens with inflammatory environmental factors, which are not the same.
“Pinkeye can spread rapidly through a household, which is why action is needed immediately to stop the initial infection”
Contagious “pink eye” is actually not-very contagious.
“While doctors prescribe ANTI-biotics to kill the pathogens, PRO-biotics work just as well for a minor infection such as pinkeye by crowding them out.”
No, they don’t. This is not a good idea.
“What you need to remedy pinkeye is a probiotic laden, non-acidic liquid. For babies and children, the most effective liquid that fits this description is human breastmilk”
I wondered where this myth was coming from. This is not true. Please do not do this to your poor infant. “Treating” a bacterial infection with MORE BACTERIA is not sound medicine, not even “home remedy” medicine.
“If the Mom in your household happens to be breastfeeding, a drop or two of breastmilk expressed into a cup and then applied with a clean eyedropper to the infected eye will rapidly and magically eliminate the infection”
No. That will not “rapidly” or “magically” do anything except expose an eye to unnecessary bacteria. As we established in the beginning, Sarah doesn’t even know when it’s allergies vs when it’s an infection…so you COULD BE *INTRODUCING* bacteria that could CAUSE a bacterial infection into an eye that’s only itchy & watery from a high pollen count.
“This remedy works well for newborn babies also, so no need for the eyedrops that are used immediately after birth if you plan to breastfeed.”
Ok those eye drops Rx’d at birth are to combat the bacteria of the mother’s vaginal canal. Breast milk will not.
“the next best thing would be a few drops of raw cow or goat milk applied to each eye. I recommend treating both eyes even if only one is showing signs of infection, by the way”
So now we’re introducing bacteria from breast milk into a HEALTHY eye…
“Pinkeye is so contagious, that treating only the infected eye will usually result in having to treat the other eye within a short time anyway, so might as well do both from the beginning”
Again, it’s not that contagious.
“Raw cow or goat milk is loaded with immunity boosting probiotics, just like human breastmilk. These beneficial bacteria work immediately on contact to crowd out and eliminate the pathogens at the source of the infection. Reapplication every hour or so should eliminate the infection quickly, perhaps not quite as fast as breastmilk, but still faster by a long shot than getting to the doctor and filling a prescription”
PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS. How could anyone, even someone sold on home remedy of mother’s breast milk, be convinced that COW’S milk, which has totally different bacteria, would be beneficial in treating HUMAN “pink eye”?
“the clear, liquid part of yogurt or kefir (whey) can also be used as a fast home remedy”
Again, please do not do this.
“If you find that any members of your family are suffering from pinkeye on a frequent basis, consider adding a cod liver oil supplement to your daily regimen”
This will not work. People with recurrent “pink eye”…are not continually “catching pink eye”. They are ALMOST ALWAYS experiencing an allergic or inflammatory problem that has nothing to do with any bacteria, and no home remedy will work, much less adding some fish oil to your diet.
Here’s a list of things mentioned in this article and/or the comments section that you should NOT to put in your eye:
yogurt
breast milk
cow’s milk
goat’s milk
cat/dog/other mammal milk
whey
honey
tea
hydrogen peroxide
liquid acidophilus
coconut oil
Eye Bright
Golden Seal Root extract
poultice of jewel weed or dutchmans britches
Bio-Kult
And monica (in the comment section): “viral pink eye caused by the herpes virus will not respond to breastmilk or any other raw milk. 2-3 days to heal? Abx eye drops would work insanely quicker” NO. No virus will ever respond to ANY antibiotics.
The big problem with “pink eye” is that its symptoms are the same as just about every inflammatory eye problem. Not only can YOU not tell when you have a bacteria vs a virus vs allergies vs an inflammation like superficial punctate keratitis or iritis or epicleritis, etc etc etc…but neither can your primary care provider. Also, bacterial and viral “pink eye” are BOTH self-limiting…meaning that if left alone, they always go away on their own. They burn out. A bunch of these remedies work by just doing something until it burns out.
Ironically, the one thing mentioned in this article’s comments section that actually kills bacteria & virus is the 1 thing Sarah recommends against: colloidal silver. While I agree heavy metals is not a great idea on your eye surface (b/c it can cause an inflammatory reaction, sometimes severe), at least it works to actually kill bugs and doesn’t INTRODUCE new and totally different bacteria.
Pink eye is poorly understood…even by most non-eye-doc medical professionals. There is no home remedy that works well, and MOST people who THINK they have “pink eye”…don’t.
Thank you for posting, Dr. Prince. You saved me the trouble of typing that exact same thing!
Thank you for the detailed response. You saved me much time in refuting this ignorant garbage.
I find that on a daily basis I am fighting against the term “pinkeye”. At what point will the medical community get together and decide that we should not use the term? Viral, bacterial, inflammatory, allergic, all these reasons for an eye to look pink require different treatment. What I find most troubling is that what I believe schools and daycare providers are usually referring to as pinkeye is viral conjunctivitis which is the one that requires NO treatment.
It scares you when we don’t need you, doesn’t it? The few times I’ve been to the doctor none of them knew what was wrong and all but one wanted to give me steroids or other poisons. Only one was interested in the cause and interested in curing me, not just covering up symptoms. And you actually think breast milk contains something harmful?!!! Oh, I wish I had more time. It really frustrates me when doctors keep people from getting real help.
The above was posted by Laura N. but so far I agree with what the other Laura has said.
Laura, breastmilk is very good for babies, but its supposed to go in their mouth–not their eyes. If someone told you to stuff cottage cheese up your vagina too would you do it? Because you know–cottage cheese is very good for you…Hey–I have an idea… Since breast milk supports immune health, lets start squirting it into surgical wounds right in the O.R.
It always amazes me when people write of their own actual experiences of being healed by natural remedies….and medical professionals then do everything in their power to debunk it. Doctors, you need to listen to what is working for these people. Eye infections, pink eye, call it whatever you want to call it, but these home remedies are working for these people. The next time you get an eye infection, try some of these remedies for yourself before you get on your high horse and debunk it all as myths without any first hand experience at all..
Your claim about whether breastmilk actually “cures” pink eye or not to me is irrelevant since you have no scientific data to back it up. Since when does human breastmilk have harmful bacteria in it? Recent studies have proven than human breastmilk has beneficial bacteria that help prevent infection, more than prebiotics can.
As a child I had pink eye more than once and had to endure days of pain and treatment of horrible eye ointment from the Dr.
Now that I am a Mother, I have used my breastmilk on my children & watched the pink eye disappear within hours. I tried it once on myself and was amazed at how the breastmilk *instantly* eliminated the pain in my eye. That alone is worth a try for me.
If I was to use breastmilk on myself or one of my children and it did not clear up within a day, I would most definitely seek the services of a medical professional. I may not have a medical degree, but I have common sense.
“Your claim about whether breastmilk actually “cures” pink eye or not to me is irrelevant since you have no scientific data to back it up.”
Yeah, Dr. Prince. Those years of medical school don’t make you, like, an expert or anything. Please continue to be schooled by a bunch of Mothers (not mothers, but Mothers, with a big “M”) in the comments section of a blog. They KNOW.
Unbelievable, that a doctor can practically look you in the eye and offer medical advice, and you can totally discount his expertise as not sufficient to “back it up.”
There is but maybe one day in the entire run of medical school that covers breastfeeding and/or breastmilk.
So no, I don’t consider any advice from a Doctor regarding breastmilk to be valid without sound scientific evidence.
Medical school may not cover that much but OPTOMETRY school consists of 4 years covering the eye and the rest of the body in great detail…and as the other doctor stated, there are multiple types of “pink eye” AKA conjunctivitis. You need to be evaluated by your eye doctor to help determine what type of conjunctivitis you have so we can properly treat it. Allergic – steroid/allergy drop Bacterial – antibiotic/steroid drop Viral – steroid Herpetic – Herpetic orals and drops (can lead to severe scarring and long term vision loss if not treated in time). Not to mention all the times people think they have “pink eye” because their eye is red. I have seen many corneal ulcers that people thought was simple “pink eye” and in fact they needed heavy duty antibiotics to prevent permanent damage.
You only have 2 eyes, why chace your vision?
Not much time spent on nutrition either. Why do people ask their doctor what to eat?
Years of medical school doesn’t make anyone an expert. It just gives them some information, usually slanted in one general direction. Modern medicine is like some religions; Our way is the Right Way and every other way is wrong. And yes, mothers DO know. They learned from hard experience, from life experience. The school of life can teach anyone more than any college can. How do you think those pioneers lived out in the Midwest without doctors? They used herbs, natural remedies. So did the Indians. Modern medicine does have some good things about it to offer to people, but so does natural remedies and non-traditional healing methods. Open your mind, your heart to more than what some professor tells you in a classroom.
if i get in a car accident or something like that I will go straight to the doctors. for a pink eye, I will try breastmilk first. i may not be an opthamologist, but I have a brain. Also, most people don’t go to opthamologists for eye infections. they go to pediatricians or GPs, who don’t know what they are looking at according to the O.D.’s. Yet somehow those patients survive. I can do at least as well as a GP on this issue, and if it progresses then we’ll think about visiting you, OK???