If you have ever in your life wake up and found out that your eyes are being assailed with various symptoms like itchy, irritated, or red eyes, your go-to reaction might be to point fingers at the often misrepresented ailment known as conjunctivitis or, as we common folk call by the name pink eye.

But what happens when the case in question has nothing to do with pink eye at all? Shockingly, there are a multitude of eye conditions that bear similarities to pink eye, which is the root cause of people placing every eye condition under the category of pink eye.

This article will delve into great detail on what is commonly misdiagnosed as pink eye. Just stick around, by the end of this article, we will make sure you are able to tell apart the various types of eye conditions and how to avoid misdiagnosis in the future.

Things That Lead To Pink Eye To Have Such A High Rate Of Misdiagnosis

Before laying our eyes on the imposters, it is essential we understand and comprehend the true identity of the pink eye. Now, people suffer from pink eye when the thin and transparent layer draped over the whites of their eyes, known in the medical field as conjunctiva, somehow becomes inflamed or damaged. If you are looking for reasons behind this eye condition, don’t worry; we have got you covered; the role of spreading this infection can be attributed to multiple factors, which include the likes of bacteria, allergens, viruses, and irritants. The symptoms of pink eye often manifest themselves in itchiness, redness, a gritty feeling, and, in rare cases, discharge.

But here’s one thing that you need to keep in your mind. These symptoms, as mentioned above, are not entirely exclusive to the condition of pink eye and can be found in multiple other eye problems.

What Is Commonly Misdiagnosed As Pink Eye?

Now that we have all that out of the way let’s dive into the crux of this article and discuss the various conditions mistaken for pink eye:

1. Dry Eye Syndrome

Does the sensation of having your eyes feel extremely dry and being completely unable to produce enough tears and moisture to keep them moisturized while also carrying along symptoms like redness in your eyes, itchy sensation in your eyes, burning effect on your eyes, and a blurry vision sound familiar to you?

And, no, in this case we are not talking about pink eye. The symptoms and ailments mentioned above are also a package deal in the condition called dry eyes.

2. Allergic Conjunctivitis

While it’s true that this is also a form of conjunctivitis, what also can not be denied is that this specific branch of conjunctivitis is not in any way contagious and is completely immune to the effects of antibiotics.

Your body is assaulted by this specific disease when it somehow manages to connect with a number of different allergens, which include but are not limited to the likes of pollen or dust, which, like always, leaves you with very irritated eyes.

These things are easy to  tell apart from pink eye by the presence of frequent sneezing and nasal congestion in allergic conjunctivitis.

3. Blepharitis

Blepharitis is a swelling of the eyelids that is often due to the presence of so many factors that play a role in disturbing the environment surrounding your eyes, like certain skin conditions, harmful bacteria, or sometimes even the formation of dandruff.

These things cause your eyes to have greatly bloated eyelids that are red in coloration, with eyelashes that are beginning to crust.

The misdiagnosis of this condition as pink eye leads to doctors handing out antibiotics, which have no effect on the root cause. Instead, antibiotics can be taken care of by having a proper hygiene routine.

4. Corneal Abrasions

When you suffer from a scratch on your delicate cornea, or a corneal abrasion, as the medical folks call it, you will more often than not be left behind with eyes that are blood red with large amounts of tears forming in your eyes. Moreover, what you will notice is that you are overcome with an extremely gritty feeling in your eyes.

Now, you might be thinking to yourself, aren’t these the trademarks of pink eye? Well, yes, but these are also found in corneal abrasions and, if mistreated, can end up causing you to lose your vision. An eye exam using a fluorescent stain can help detect these corneal abrasions and figure out the correct treatment.

5. Chalazions And Styes

When the oil glands located near your eyelid manage to get themselves infected, they take on the form of styes. But, when those same oil glands are faced with any sort of blockage, they are referred to as chalazion, which leads to many unwanted symptoms like reddishness and lumps, making them easily mistaken for conjunctivitis. But, these conditions often relegate themselves to one particular part of your eye and are marginally more painful when compared to conjunctivitis.

Warm compresses and gentle massages are recommended to soothe these ailments.

Wrapping Things Up

So, in the end, what is commonly misdiagnosed as pink eye? It turns out that there are a lot of things, actually. There is a wide variety of things that can exhibit behaviors similar to pink eye, such as corneal abrasions and blepharitis. We completely understand that you might be tempted to perform the diagnosis yourself and make do with medications that you think might work best. The fact remains that your eye is a delicate organ and needs to be treated with the utmost level of care and professionalism.