Seasonal Allergies

Now is the time of the year when everyone is bothered by allergies, especially the itchy eyes, you all know what I mean (right in the corners of your eyes). You feel like you could dig your eyes out. So far this has been a year for higher than normal pollen count. More people than average are coming forward with allergy related eye problems. Most people will try to medicate themselves with what we call OTC medications (over the counter), medication bought without a prescription. The most commonly bought eye drop is Visine, which by chance the most widely advertised. Visine has a drop for every eye problem there is. Any eye doctor you talk to about this drop will tell you that this is the worst drop you can use. Visine is classified as a "vasoconstrictor", which means it constricts the red blood vessels in your eyes, it basically makes your eyes look whiter. Prolonged use of this drop causes what we call "the rebound effect", whcih means that your blood vessels will actually constrict then get larger each time you use the drop, thereby the need for continued use. Visine is suitable to use every once in a while, but not on a regular basis. People on a average spend more money on OTC drops than presciption ones. OTC drops are less likely to give you any relief compared to presciption drops. Two of the top most commonly prescribed eye drops which I feel are the most effective are 1) Pataday once a day drop (used to be Patadol twice a day) and 2) Optivar twice a day. There are also two OTC eye drops to treat mild ocular allergies. The two OTC drops that work very well are Naphcon-A and Opcon-A, both of these drops were previously by presciption only also several years ago. The newer presciption eye drops work much more effectively, but if you do not want to pay to see an eye doctor the OTC drops I suggested are you best bet. If your eye allergies are severe, then you may need a steroid drop along with the allergy drop to get the inflammation under control quicker, which in turn will give you relief sooner.
If using either presciption or OTC drops, and your symptoms do not improve within 5-7 days then please contact your eye doctor.