Three Weeks and still with Conjunctivitis

I've had viral conjunctivitis for nearly three weeks now. In the first week it was very bad - my eyes were a deep red colour. By the end of the second week, I noticed rapid improvements and patches of whites in my eyes.

Now it seems to have completely stalled at this point with no further improvement. There is still a light redness on the outer corners of both eyes and if you pull my lower eyelid down, you can still see bits of redness in some areas. It just seems to have got to this level of improvement and then stopped at this point. Its been at this stage for a week.

How long can this last? At what point should I go back to the eye doctor to a further checkup?

Just to add, my brother caught conjunctivitis from me a week and a half after my symptoms first began. Now, after having it for a week, his symptoms have improved so quickly he's almost caught up with me. Yet he's only had it for a week whereas I've had it for nearly three!

Advice much appreciated.

[Doreen Fazio, M.D.]

It is unlikely that this is still an infection.  There may still be some inflammation present which can be treated with anti-inflammatory eye drops.  You see your ophthalmologist again, to see what is the exact cause of the persistent redness.  In the absence of eye pain or vision changes, the redness is probably not serious.