Pink eye (conjunctivitis) isn't necessarily worse at night in terms of pain or infection severity, but its symptoms can seem more pronounced in the morning.
Here's a breakdown:
- During the Day: Pink eye often presents with watery discharge, causing a gritty or irritated feeling.
- At Night: While you sleep, the discharge from pink eye can accumulate and dry. This leads to crusting around the eyelids and eyelashes. This crusting can make it difficult to open your eyes in the morning and can make the pink eye seem worse. As Dr. Ingraham stated, "At night it tends to get crusted over, so patients will tell you they woke up in the morning and their eye was crusted shut.”
In summary, the underlying infection doesn't worsen specifically at night, but the build-up of discharge during sleep can cause more noticeable and bothersome symptoms upon waking.
