March is here, and with it comes more daylight and (hopefully!) more sunshine. However, for some people, it also signals the start of allergy season.
For many people who suffer from allergies, this time of year brings a familiar annoyance. That said, it’s still worth talking about some common remedies – and pitfalls – of allergy season.
Firstly, ocular allergies should generally only cause lightly red, itchy, and watery eyes. If your eyes are in pain, burning, light sensitive, or if your vision is affected – this may not be “just” allergies, and it’s definitely worth coming in to rule out more serious causes.
If you do suffer from eye allergies, over-the-counter antihistamine eye drops may work well, however, if you’re not getting enough relief, consider coming in for an eye exam to get prescription allergy eye drops – these pack more of a punch and are sure to bring relief when the regular ones don’t cut it. While you can use lubricating artificial tear eye drops to help with the irritation, I would advise against using Visine – this neither moisturizes the eye, nor does it treat the allergic inflammation. Lastly, I’d consider avoiding oral antihistamines such as Benadryl or Claritin unless absolutely necessary – oral antihistamines may address some allergy symptoms, but can actually make eye dryness worse!
If your eyes hurt, burn, feel gritty, light sensitive, or have mucus, you may not actually be suffering from allergies at all – these aren’t necessarily normal symptoms for your common garden-variety ocular allergic response. You may actually be dealing with dry eyes, ocular inflammation, pink eye, or a whole host of other possible eye conditions. If that’s the case, definitely come in for an eye exam, so we can figure out what’s going on, and come up with a treatment plan for your specific situation.
Hopefully, however, your eyes are seeing clearly and comfortably, and as winter comes to a close, you’re able to get outside and enjoy all the beautiful things the lower mainland has to offer this time of year.
“If there is an itch one does want to scratch; but it is much nicer to have neither the itch nor the scratch”. – C.S. Lewis