Bacterial conjunctivitis is an extremely common infection, afection people world wide, afecting all races and sexes equally. Most cases are caused by staphylococci and streptococci.

Most cases are treated with topical antibiotics or just resolve on their own, however practitioners need to consider whether the infection was sexually transmited. If this is suspected, then testing for gonococci, and Chlamydia should be pursued. ¹

The primary case in this chapter is a simple presentation of acute onset conjunctivitis. This easy to follow case has a few key features: the frst is observation of the exudate on the eye. In this case, it was white, not yellow, thus confrming that heat was less dominant than wind.

The treatment is a very simply modified Yín Qiào Săn, with mŭ dān pí and chìsháo added to cool the blood and abate redness in the sclera. This is combined with two methods of external therapy. One easily replicated and one not that cannot be replicated in the West.

The frst is the eye wash method: pú gōng yīng, yĕ jú huā and huáng lián combine to create a soothing steam that helps to clear heat and reduce infection. A well-strained tea could also be applied as a compress to the eyes, begin sure to use a clean cloth with each application to avoid reinfection.

The second external therapy is the bear bile eye drops. In Chinese medicine, xióngdăn (Fel Ursi) is biter and cold. It clears heat, relieves toxicity and brightens the eyes. ² It is currently listed as an obsolete substance, therefore antibiotic eye drops are used.

The fnal strategy of note is the bloodleting therapy. Bleeding points surrounding the eye can be an efective strategy to clear localized heat congestion.