At Clinica London, we deal with a wide range of eye problems — including recurrent conjunctivitis. But why does your conjunctivitis keep coming back, and how can you resolve it once and for all?
Conjunctivitis presents as a red, gritty, itchy eye — with either a watery or sticky discharge. It can happen in one or both eyes, and is caused by either infection or allergic reaction.
Recurring conjunctivitis is when the condition keeps coming back, weeks or months apart. Sometimes it is caused by a new infection — but more often than not, an underlying condition is causing the conjunctivitis to return.
Usually, sight is maintained during a bout of conjunctivitis (though it may be a little blurry because of the watering and stickiness). However, it can become serious and impact on your health, quality of life and wellbeing if it keeps coming back weeks or months after recovery.
There is no single condition that causes recurring conjunctivitis, and finding out what kind you have will require a visit to your doctor or a private consultant.
A specialist consultation will examine your eyes thoroughly and identify the underlying cause so that the right treatment can be prescribed.
Book a consultation NOWThere are several reasons why you might be getting recurring conjunctivitis. Below are the most common causes beyond new infections and unresolved allergies.
Your recurrent conjunctivitis may be related to a low-grade infection on the eyelid margins called blepharitis, creating the compound condition blepharo-conjunctivitis.
If you have blepharo-conjunctivitis, your eyelids will be red-rimmed, itchy and swollen, with a biofilm deposit along the eyelid margin. The inside of the eyelids will be red, with watering and discharge.
To stop this type of recurring conjunctivitis, you have to treat the underlying blepharitis. Without treatment, blepharitis keeps the eye in a constant state of low-grade infection, making it susceptible to repeat bouts of conjunctivitis.
Keeping the eyelids clean is essential. You should maintain good eyelid hygiene at all times — cleaning your eyelids twice a day and continuing to do so even if your symptoms clear up. Your pharmacist may be able to help you find eye pads, wipes or drops to support your cleaning routine. If symptoms persist, contact your doctor or book a consultation with our team.
Another cause of recurrent conjunctivitis is dacryocystitis — tear duct blockages — where mucous washes back from the tear sac into the eye.
To treat this, the tear duct needs to be unblocked so that the mucous and infection can drain away from the eye into the nose. Initially, we treat dacryocystitis with antibiotics to reduce the infection — but if you have acute dacryocystitis, surgery is usually the best course of action. The blocked tear duct is bypassed surgically, allowing normal function to return and reducing incidences of conjunctivitis.
A rare but often missed cause of recurrent conjunctivitis is molluscum contagiosum — a common, generally harmless viral skin infection that mostly affects schoolchildren.
It causes small, firm, dome-shaped, flesh-coloured bumps (2–5mm), often with a central pit. It is highly contagious, spreading through direct skin-to-skin contact, contaminated items (towels, toys), or in water. The bumps are itchy and come and go — usually self-resolving within 6 to 12 months. Parents can sometimes catch it from their children, presenting as a small red lump, often on an eyelid.
When present on the eyelid, the lesion sheds the virus into the eye and causes chronic and recurrent follicular conjunctivitis. Fortunately this is rare — but it is usually missed when seeking the cause of recurrent conjunctivitis.
First, the molluscum shedding the virus into the eye must be removed. The reactive conjunctivitis is then treated with lubricants and light steroid drops for a few weeks.
Actinomycosis canaliculitis is an infection of the tear duct close to the eye surface — called proximal canaliculitis. This is a fungal infection which causes recurrent conjunctivitis and redness.
Although this sometimes responds to antifungal treatment, the diagnosis can often be missed for weeks. If it persists, the best treatment is surgery to drain the fungal infection and cure the recurrent conjunctivitis it causes.
Sexually transmitted chlamydial follicular conjunctivitis is a rare but important cause of recurrent conjunctivitis in young adults.
If chlamydia is suspected, a swab should be taken to isolate it. Discrete enquiries should be made about the origin of this conjunctivitis, along with referral to the appropriate physician for treatment — as it can be associated with sexually transmitted disease.
The causes of recurrent conjunctivitis are diverse. If you want to solve your recurring conjunctivitis for good, you will need an eye expert who can see you at short notice and spend time listening to the history of your conjunctivitis.
At Clinica London, you will be asked how often it occurs, when the problem started, whether the eye is mainly sticky or watery, and whether one or both eyes are affected. We take the time to listen and examine you with an ophthalmic biomicroscope to confirm a diagnosis.
We may carry out additional tests for visual acuity and tear function — and we might take a bacterial swab to check for bacterial conjunctivitis.
Our specialists will take the time to properly investigate the cause of your recurring conjunctivitis and recommend the right course of treatment for you.
Book a consultation NOWClinica London is a world-leading paediatric and adult eye clinic, with an in-house team of conjunctivitis treatment specialists. We offer expert assessment, diagnosis and treatment for all forms of conjunctivitis treatment — including the rarer, often-missed causes of recurring conjunctivitis described above.
Contact us today — call +44 2079 357990 or book a consultation with one of our specialists.
Speak to one of our specialists to find out what is causing your recurring conjunctivitis and how to resolve it for good.
Book a consultation NOW
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