Keep Your Eye Allergies Out of Sight and Mind

Eye allergies are some of the most frustrating conditions around. Whether you happen to be enjoying some cuddle time with your cat or dusting your home, those allergies are likely to appear, no matter what you feel about them. And when they do, you can expect your eyes to redden, itch, burn, water, or swell. You may even feel like dirt or grit has managed to get stuck in your eyes.

But why does this happen during such specific activities, you wonder. After all, a harmless cat or a bit of dust shouldn’t be that much of a problem, right?

Well, unfortunately, your eye is more exposed compared to the rest of your body, making it that much more sensitive. So when particles of protein from a cat or a dust mite come into contact with your eye, your body might see these irritants as harmful and try to protect your eye from them. In response to this defense, you and your poor eyes experience allergy symptoms.

Luckily, there are ways to keep your eye allergies out of sight and mind. All you need to do is try out one or more of the following methods.

Get prescription medication.

One effective allergy reduction method is a prescription medication. For instance, if you get medication like OPTIVAR® (azelastine) , you could feel allergy-free in no time. According to the academic journal Clinical Ophthalmology , this medication can offer an optimal experience with just two daily doses.

It works by blocking histamine , a chemical created by your body to protect it from allergens that it’s mistaken to be harmful substances. In turn, this reduces your eye allergy symptoms greatly, allowing you to interact with your allergen, whether that happens to come from cats, dust, or elsewhere.

Prescription medication like this can be expensive, but you can lower that cost just by going through Canadian Med Center . This type of center allows you to ship your medication through licensed pharmacies outside of the United States for a cheaper price than what you’d find at your local brick-and-mortar pharmacy.

Consider over-the-counter eye drops as an alternative.

If you'd rather not deal with prescription medication at all, you might want to look into over-the-counter eye drops. Instead of having to rely on your doctor to fill out a specific prescription for you, you can just look for specific non-prescription eye drop brands, such as Visine or Clear Eyes. You can pick up these drops any time you like, and they should help relieve you any time you start to feel your eyes itch or water.

Try immunotherapy if neither option works well for you.

For those of you who have eyes that don’t seem to respond to any conventional eye allergy treatments, there is still hope. Immunotherapy has been shown to help calm eye allergies rapidly and safely for most people. If your doctor deems you fine for this therapy, you’ll undergo sessions with the doctor where the allergen your body is allergic to will be introduced into your bloodstream or other regions of your body. These sessions will eventually train your body to stop overreacting to that allergen and to view it as a safe substance. In time, your allergies will become less and less noticeable so that you can go about your day without too much of a worry.

Don't forget to apply for allergy prevention practices.

Lastly, and most importantly, you should remember to avoid your allergy triggers as much as possible. Doing so can help reduce your allergy symptoms drastically. You may even end up not having to worry about trying out any other allergy reduction methods.

Some prevention practices to help you avoid coming into contact with your allergies include:

• Avoiding touching or rubbing your eyes
• Washing your hands frequently with soap and water
• Using a vacuum that has a filter that can remove allergens
• Laundering bed linens and pillowcases in hot water and detergent
• Applying covers that protect against allergens to pillows, comforters, duvets, and mattresses
• Keeping pets out of your bedroom to avoid pet allergies
• Wearing sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat to avoid pollen allergies
• Ensuring all windows are closed during pollen and mold seasons.

But if these practices aren’t enough, don’t fret. You still have the other suggestions from this article to try out.

Eventually, you’ll find the method that works best for you. And once you do, both you and your eyes can forget about allergies before you can blink.