Conjunctivitis Symptoms: Signs, Types, What to Do

The most common symptoms of conjunctivitis are pink or red eyes, itchy or burning eyes, watery eyes, and unusual fluid coming from the eye — the four signs the National Eye Institute puts at the top of its list, along with swollen eyelids, light sensitivity, blurry vision, and the feeling that something is stuck in the eye. Which extra symptoms show up depends on the type: intense itching points to allergy, discharge that glues the eyelids shut overnight points to bacteria, and watery discharge alongside a cold points to a virus.

What conjunctivitis is

Conjunctivitis is inflammation of the conjunctiva, the clear membrane covering the white part of the eye and the inner surface of the eyelids. It can have three main origins: infectious (virus or bacteria), allergic (reaction to pollen, dust, mites, animal dander), or irritant (pollution, smoke, pool chlorine, cleaning products, or makeup). The type directly affects treatment and the risk of spreading it to others.

The symptoms most people get

• Pink or red eyes
• Itchy or burning eyes
• Watery eyes
• Unusual discharge from the eye
• Swollen eyelids
• A feeling that something is stuck in the eye
• Light sensitivity
• Blurry vision
• Eyelids stuck together on waking

Not every case shows all of these signs at once — the combination of symptoms is one of the clues that helps tell the type of conjunctivitis apart.

How long it lasts

The National Eye Institute puts it plainly: pink eye often gets better on its own after 7 to 10 days. Viral cases can take up to two or three weeks to clear completely, and StatPearls describes most of them as highly contagious for 10 to 14 days. Untreated bacterial conjunctivitis usually resolves within a week on its own. Allergic conjunctivitis follows the allergen, not a calendar.

How to tell viral, bacterial, and allergic apart by symptoms

Sign	Viral	Bacterial	Allergic
Discharge	Watery	Purulent, thick, re-forms after wiping	Clear and watery
Itching	Mild or absent	Typically absent	Intense, main symptom
Eyes affected	Starts in one, the other follows in 1 to 2 days	Starts in one, may spread	Usually both from the start
Contagious	Yes, highly	Yes	No
Swollen preauricular lymph nodes	Common and tender	Uncommon	Absent
Company it keeps	Recent cold or sore throat	Glued lids in the morning	Sneezing, runny nose, itchy nose

StatPearls is blunt about the limits of this table: discharge type alone is a weak predictor. The three findings that actually favor a bacterial cause are glued eyelids, absence of itching, and no previous history of conjunctivitis. Symptoms overlap, so confirming the type is a clinical call.

Causes behind the symptoms

• Viruses, mostly adenovirus — up to 90% of viral cases — often alongside a cold or sore throat
• Bacteria: in children, most often Haemophilus influenzae, then Streptococcus pneumoniae and Moraxella catarrhalis; in adults, staphylococcal species predominate
• Allergy to pollen, dust, mites, animal dander, or contact lens wear
• Irritants such as pollution, smoke, pool chlorine, cleaning products, or makeup

Viral and bacterial conjunctivitis are contagious and spread through direct contact with hands, eye discharge, or contaminated objects (towels, pillowcases, makeup). Allergic and irritant conjunctivitis are not contagious.

What to do about the symptoms

1. Avoid rubbing your eyes, even with intense itching — it worsens the inflammation and can spread discharge to the other eye.
2. Wash your hands often and avoid sharing towels, pillows, or makeup while symptoms last.
3. Use cold compresses and artificial tears, which is the whole of treatment for the viral form and the starting point for the allergic one.
4. Don’t use steroid eye drops on your own — they can prolong a viral infection, raise eye pressure, and are prescribed only with an eye exam behind them.
5. Don’t assume antibiotic drops are the answer. Viral conjunctivitis does not respond to them, and StatPearls describes uncomplicated bacterial conjunctivitis as treatable either with topical antibiotics or expectantly, without them. Antibiotics are not optional, though, if you wear contact lenses, are immunocompromised, or a gonococcal or chlamydial cause is suspected.

Warning signs that need immediate care

Get seen the same day if the red eye comes with:

• Intense eye pain, not just discomfort or stinging
• Decreased or blurry vision
• Strong light sensitivity
• Redness that stays in one localized patch, or a ring of redness hugging the cornea
• Any red eye in a contact lens wearer
• Symptoms in a newborn in the first 28 days of life

Those signs point away from conjunctivitis and toward keratitis, iritis, corneal ulcer, or angle-closure glaucoma — conditions StatPearls flags as sight-threatening and needing an ophthalmologist. What that shortlist looks like in practice is covered in red eye: what it could be.

This content is informational and does not replace medical consultation, diagnosis, or treatment. To learn more about each type, see allergic conjunctivitis symptoms, viral conjunctivitis symptoms, bacterial conjunctivitis symptoms, or, if the itch is the whole story, itchy eyes: causes and dry eye vs. eye allergy. For the specific case of babies, see eye discharge in babies: causes.