Every day Dr. Farah Khan patients who do their best to claw out their inflamed eyes. They march in miserably, one after the other, with identical complaints. “Itching is a characteristic symptom and it can be very intense,” says Khan, an allergist who is a spokesperson for the American College of Allergy, asthma and Immunology. “Then there is redness and some swelling, and you can have a little clear, watery drain.”
If there is any rescue, it is that the symptoms are transient. The patients of Khan suffer from seasonal allergic conjunctivitis, a common ailment that most likely flares up in the spring, summer and fall, when polling rails are highest.
This is what about the condition, plus what to do about red, itchy eyes.
What causes seasonal allergic conjunctivitis
Allergic conjunctivitis is activated by allergens in the air, such as pollen that sculpts trees, grasses and weeds. “Allergens actually attack your eyeballs,” says Khan. They land on the white of the eyes and the inner surface of the eyelids, binding on manure cells that play a key role in allergic reactions. When manure cells come into contact with an allergen, “they burst open, and then a number of inflammatory mediators are released, including chemicals such as histamine,” says Khan. “Histamine drives a lot of itching and swelling and redness, so you have this local allergic reaction with your eyes, that’s why you get all the symptoms.”
Read more: 10 weird symptoms that may be allergies
It is easy to confuse allergic conjunctivitis with that other, better known type of conjunctivitis: pink eye. But there is an easy way to distinguish the two. “Sometimes people wake up and think,” Oh, do I have a pink eye? “Says Khan. “But usually allergic conjunctivitis is bilateral – why would grass pollen attack one eye and not the other?” Pink eye, on the other hand, is more likely to influence only one eye.
Prevent allergic conjunctivitis
Minimizing contact with allergens is the best way to protect your eyes. You can do that by staying inside, keeping your windows closed and using your A/C if you have access to one. It is also a good idea to disable ceiling fans. “They become very, very dusty, and nobody really climbs that and wipes the top of the knives,” says Dr. Michelle Andreoli, a clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology and an ophthalmologist at Northwestern Medicine. “You lie there all night and your ceiling fan blows allergens and dust over your eyelid skin, so you itch.”
Keep your pillowcases clean too – they will probably accommodate many allergens that seep of your skin and hair. If you don’t feel like washing your bedding, Andreoli suggests wrapping your pillow in a fresh t-shirt every night. “You can drop it off in the morning and throw it in the machine,” she says. “It seems less cumbersome than possessing seven pillowcases and they change every day.”
Treatment options
Do you remember when you were a child and everyone told you that you shouldn’t scratch your mosquitoes? The same rule applies to itchy eyes. “You grind into the irritating or allergen, and you almost guarantee that you are going to itch even more five minutes later,” says Andreoli.
When the patients of Andreoli tell her that they want to scratch their eyes, she instructs them to gently rinse their eyelids and eyelashes with a little bit of mild face soap. “That Debuls the oil of our eyelashes – which is sticky – and it gets all allergens and irritating substances,” she says. “By removing the oil, our eyelashes will stay less all day, and our eyes will not be itchy and irritated.”
It is also a good idea to get the habit of jumping in the shower to rinse outside after having spent time outside and then turning into a clean set of clothing. That will ensure that you do not follow pollen all day all day.
Freely available antihistamine consumers can make a big difference for people with allergic conjunctivitis. There are many brands available and they work by blocking histamine – which helps to reduce symptoms such as itching and redness. Most drops are designed to be used every 12 to 24 hours, says Andreoli. You can combine them with spreadable eye drops, often called artificial tears, which offer lighting by hydrating the eye.
Read more: How to protect your eyes while staring at a screen all day
It can also feel good to press a cold compress or ice pack against your eyes. The patients of Andreoli usually find that this reduces swelling, redness and that crazy desire to scratch.
If you lean in OTC options and they don’t help, make an appointment with an allergist. Your provider wants to find out what causes your symptoms – and what kind of regime will work best for your needs. “If you only have nasal symptoms, or if you usually have eye symptoms, we can come up with a number of targeted therapies,” says Khan. This can mean allergy forms or manure cell stabilizer eye drops that can help prevent or reduce symptoms such as itching, redness and cracks.
“People sometimes underestimate the damage with their environmental and seasonal allergy symptoms,” says Khan. “Please come and talk to us – we treat and help patients with these symptoms every day.”
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