Antibiotics are drugs that attack bacteria. If you have conjunctivitis, you put antibiotics such as chloramphenicol and fusidic acid into your eyes in the form of eye drops or an ointment. To use eye drops, gently pull down your lower eyelid to catch the drops. Keep your eye closed for one or two minutes afterwards. If you use an ointment, put it in your eyes the same way. Check with the doctor or pharmacist about how often you should use the drops or ointment, and for how long. If you wear contact lenses, you need to ask your pharmacist, doctor or optometrist about what treatment to use and whether you need to leave your lenses out during treatment. You should avoid ointments. Some eye drops shouldn’t be used with soft (hydrogel) contact lenses.

If you wear disposable contact lenses, you should throw away the set of lenses and the lens case you were using. If you don’t discard the lenses and the case, you might get the same infection again. If you wear lenses that aren’t disposable, ask your optometrist about what to do with them. People with bacterial conjunctivitis who use antibiotic eye drops or ointment usually recover more quickly than people who don’t. Antibiotics can cause mild side effects. They can make your eyes sting for a short time.