The ‘secret’ pink eye treatment doctors use for themselves but not their patients

This health hack is a sight for sore eyes.

This health hack is a sight for sore eyes.

Retina surgeon Dr. Park (@drpark524) has revealed the “secret” pink eye treatment doctors used for themselves but don’t typically offer to patients.

“The way that eye doctors treat each other for pink eye is vastly different from the way they treat you for pink eye when you get it,” he admitted on TikTok.

If you’ve ever had viral conjunctivitis, more commonly called pink eye, and gone to the doctor, they’ve probably sent you home with no prescription — just some frustrating advice to stay home, not touch it, and wait for it to clear up on its own.

But Park says when the docs themselves come down with that red, oozing, crusty mess, they get better much quicker with an over-the-counter cure.

The secret? Topical Betadine, an antiseptic solution you can find in any pharmacy.

He said MDs will first numb their eyes — though he didn’t specify with what — then add a few drops of Betadine to each eye, let it sit, and rinse out.

“This decreases your symptom duration by several days,” he said. “It decreases the viral load and you’re basically up on your feet, ready to get back to normal life much, much faster.”

The active ingredient is Betadine is povidone-iodine, an antiseptic that can kill bacteria, viruses and fungi.

Several studies have shown Betadine to improve pink eye. However, at least one has shown that it may only be effective against bacterial and chlamydial pink eye and not viral pink eye.

According to Park, this particular treatment is an example of when there’s a lot of science and data to back up a therapy but no “clear profit motive or incentive,” it’s like it “doesn’t even exist.” That’s because there’s no procedure code for it that doctors can bill for — so he says many won’t offer it.

Some doctors do, though.

“I have patients close their eyelids and move their eyes around to ensure widespread coverage,” Tammy Than, O.D., M.S., an associate professor at University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry, told Review of Optometry.

She explained that she also swabs the eyelids with the solution, has them sit for two minutes, then rinses the eyes.

“Although this off-label use of povidone-iodine has gained favor among many practitioners, it has not been embraced by the entire profession,” she added. “There is a need for a well-designed study. If the findings are favorable, then we will be able to practice good, sound, evidence-based medicine and provide quick, effective relief for patients who can often suffer for weeks.”