Dry Eyes and Allergies

Chronic tearing, and watery eyes, ocular irritation (gritty/sandy feeling in eyes), blurry vision, especially when reading, watching TV, or in the evening. Patients with Blepharitis will also have crusty eyelids in the morning.

Many people suffer from chronic flares of redness, tearing and irritation, and believe that they are having frequent bouts of “pink eye” or bacterial infection of the eye. Bacterial conjunctivitis is quite rare and requires short-term treatment, and rarely comes back. However, blepharitis is chronic, the symptoms frequently return, and requires long-term therapy.

There are two types of tears – an oily tear and a watery tear. As we age, the oily portion of tear gets thicker and can block the tear ducts. When the oily part of the tears are not present, the eye makes too much of the watery tear – and your eyes water. We need the oily part of the tears to reduce evaporation of the watery tears and to keep the eye comfortable.

Dry eyes and Blepaharitis are chronic conditions and often require long-term therapy.

There are several over-the-counter and home remedies for dry eye, including:

• Warm Compresses in the Morning and Evening
• Artificial Tears (Systane Ultra or Balance, Optive, Soothe XP)
• Lid Scrubs
• Nighttime Eye Ointment

Medical options for the treatment of dry eye include:

• Steroid eye drops (Pred Forte, Lotemax)
• Restasis
• High dose Omega 3 fatty acids by mouth
• Punctal plugs
• Low-dose Doxycycline by mouth
• Lacrisert (time-release tear tablets)
• Azasite eye drops
• Punctal cautery
• Custom made serum eye drops

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Springtime brings warm weather to Baltimore. Spring also brings pollen and the start of allergy season. 

The eyes are commonly involved when patients have seasonal allergies, and your eyes can have allergy symptoms even if you do not have the “typical” allergy symptoms of runny nose and post-nasal drip.

What are the symptoms of allergies in the eyes?

Itchy eyes are the most common symptoms of ocular allergies. People with ocular allergies will frequently rub their eyes due to the chronic itchy feeling, and there may be a mild, watery discharge and a mild red eye.

Other symptoms include darkening and swelling of the lower and upper eye lids. While many people have these symptoms in the Spring and Fall, some people will suffer from these symptoms year round. These symptoms can be well controlled with topical medicines (eye drops, nose sprays and ointments) and medications by mouth.