Q: I tend to get allergy issues every spring and summer, and my most annoying part is my itchy, gritty, watery eyes! My eyes get red, and with so much rubbing, my eyelids look red and puffy too. What is the best treatment?
A: So many people have some form of allergies in summer, or all year, and yet most often use an inappropriate eye drop. Most people begin with a trip to the pharmacy, where they face a confusing assortment of various over the counter eye drops!
Generally you will find a number of “artificial tears”, contact lens products, and eye drops for allergies on the shelves. Often for mild symptoms, using simple eye moisture drops can give adequate relief. Essentially as pollen and other “allergens” are trapped under your eyelids, simply rinsing your eye surface will wash away the offending agent/s and lessen the irritation. Most any eye lubricants will suffice, with the caveat of avoiding those products that claim to “take the red out”. Those products can aggravate already dry eyes.
In fact, almost all eye allergy drops can make your eyes more dry. Many patients with ocular allergies also have dry eye disease too. Actually, dry eyes are more prone to allergies and general discomfort. At your next eye exam, you may ask to have a couple simple and painless tear sample tests run in the office. These can tell us more about what type of dry eye disease you might have, and potentially point out the cause/s of that disorder. These are valuable to more accurately guide our treatment choices.
Really good news is that several former “by prescription only” eye medications for allergies are now available over the counter…..and much less expensive. Three brand names that come to mind, and are widely available, would be Zaditor, Alaway, and Pataday. These are good first choices, and can be used once or twice a day. If that is not enough relief, or your relief does not last long enough, your eye doctor can prescribe a prescription grade eye medication. And again, this indicates a likely secondary cause of discomfort….dry eyes.
Lastly, using a cool compress on your eyelids a couple times a day can help a lot. Never use a warm or hot compress for eye allergies. By the way, oral allergy meds very commonly aggravate dry eyes also. If you symptoms are mostly your eyes, not respiratory, I would advice avoiding oral meds, and stay with topical eye drop treatments.