Allergy

Pollen, dust, animal dander or any other particle can trigger an allergy reaction on the surface of your eyes

The eyes may be red and watery and they may feel itchy

This may be one reason why young children rub their eyes

Treatment Options

If possible, avoid the allergen, whatever it may be (pollen.com)

Mild cases may respond well to applying a cold compress (ice pack or wash cloth soaked in cold water) over the closed eyelids

Benadryl may be helpful for treating the symptoms of allergy if the nose and throat are also irritated by an allergy reaction

Over the counter lubricant eye drops (room temperature or refrigerated, up to one drop every 2 hours) will rinse out any allergen as well as soothe an irritated eye

Over the counter antihistamine / mast cell stabilizer eye drops (ketotifen fumarate, two drops per day or Pataday once daily) will get deeper to the source of the allergy reaction and may take up to 2 weeks to have the full affect

Allergies not responding to the above therapies may benefit from an Rx steroid eye drop

Any red eye for any reason can be made to look better with Lumify (redness reliever eye drops) which last 8 hours, but treating the root cause might be a better idea than masking it with this type of eye drop

Older redness reliever options (like Visine Original, Clear Eyes, Naphcon A, or Opcon A) are not recommended because they usually only last 4 hours and they have a risk of inducing an angle closure glaucoma event in patients with narrow anterior chamber angles.

What Does An Allergy Reaction Look Like?

Here is a website with really nice photos of conjunctival papillae (allergy caused) versus conjunctival follicles (virus caused)

Blepharitis

Blepharitis can sometimes cause an allergy

In these cases you can treat the allergy with the above methods, in addition to treating the blepharitis

Blepharitis is a common eye condition that makes your eyelids red, swollen, irritated and itchy

It can cause crusty dandruff-like flakes on your eyelashes

Blepharitis can be uncomfortable, but it isn’t contagious and it usually doesn’t cause any lasting damage to your eyes

Demodex blepharitis can be treated with xdemvy Rx eyedrops

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