Red, swollen and itchy eye symptoms often indicate allergic eye inflammation, also called allergic conjunctivitis. According to the National Eye Institute, allergic eye inflammation is one of the most common ocular complaints. Although irritating and bothersome, allergic conjunctivitis rarely threatens eyesight, and effective treatments exist to reduce or remove discomfort.
Inflammation Process
Inflammation is your body’s response to some unfamiliar or traumatic event and usually involves swelling, pain, heat and increased redness due to more blood flow to the affected area. When allergic inflammation occurs, your eyes produce immune cells like mast cells, histamine and immunoglobulin-E.
Symptoms
The reactive immune cells produce symptoms such as intense eye itching, watery discharge, discomfort, and redness and swelling to the whites of your eyes, also called the conjunctiva. Sometimes, allergic inflammation of the eyes occurs in isolation, but it often is associated with broader allergy symptoms such as sneezing and a runny nose, according to the Mayo Clinic. An eye care professional may see signs of bumps, or papillae, on the inside lining of your eyelids that indicate allergic inflammation of the eye in addition to the other symptoms of allergic inflammation.
Home Treatments
Helpful at-home treatments include cold compresses and non-preserved lubricant eye drops to flush out the eyes. Because contact lenses tend to exacerbate allergic eye symptoms, remove the lenses and wear glasses during allergic conjunctivitis flare-ups to reduce healing time. Do not rub your eyes, as this will prevent further release of the immune cells that lead to more itchiness symptoms. Instead, use cold compresses for relief.
Medical Treatments
An eye care professional can prescribe prescription or over-the-counter eye drops, such as antihistamines or mast cell stabilizers to relieve itchiness. Sometimes anti-inflammatory drops and mild steroid drops are necessary for more severe allergic reactions. Additionally, oral allergy medication and decongestants may help you breathe better, reduce a runny nose and help your eye symptoms.
The key to long-term treatment of allergic inflammation of the eye is finding out what allergens cause the reaction in your body. Common eye allergens include dust, pollen, mold, ragweed, pet dander, cosmetics, air pollutants, smoke, and eye drop preservatives. Identifying the allergen can be trickier than it sounds for some, but this is vital to treating allergic conjunctivitis. Though it is not often practical, avoidance of the allergen is recommended.
Risks
There is a hereditary component to allergies, and they often run in families. Allergy incidence is widespread and difficult to define. According to the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, about 30 percent of the U.S. population suffer from some sort of allergy, and related eye symptoms are common.
