3 Tips to Help with Spring Allergies
For many of us, Spring not only brings sunshine, warmer weather, and beautiful new flowers, it also brings pollen. This pollen can cause tons of symptoms like sneezing as well as red, watery, itchy eyes. Allergens can make us feel miserable. Here are 3 tips to alleviate your allergy symptoms this spring.
Tip 1: Keep the pollen out
Eliminating the amount of pollen indoors is important in controlling your allergy symptoms. The fewer irritants you have around your eyes, the less irritated your eyes will be. When there is so much pollen that it coats our cars with a yellow frost, how do we keep it out:
Wear an outer layer of clothes like a raincoat with a hood. Leave it in the garage or laundry room. Don't bring the pollen into your home.
Take a shower before going to bed at night to eliminate the pollen from getting on your sheets and pillows.
Wear wraparound sunglasses to protect your eyes from floating pollen.
Rinse your eyes with preservative-free artificial tears after outdoor activity. Learn which type of artificial tear is best for your situation by downloading the Ultimate Guide to Artificial Tears here.
Tip 2: Reduce the pollen on your contact lenses
Eliminating the amount of pollen that is stuck on your contact lenses to irritate your eyes and eyelids will go a long way in increasing your comfort this time of the year. Any particle on the surface of your contact lenses, whether it is dirt, dust, pollen, or proteins, will rub on the inside of the eyelid every time you blink. Over time, these particles can cause the inside of the eyelid to become swollen and irritated. Here are a few ways to keep the particles off your lenses:
Wear a daily disposable contact lens - that way you throw the lenses out at the end of the day
Rub your contact lenses with a cleaning solution as soon as you take them out. Don't wait until morning to rub your contact lenses. If you leave the pollen or bacteria on the lenses all night long, it gets into your contact lens case and will get back on your contacts the next night.
Try switching to Clear Care Plus contact lens solution during allergy season. Clear Care is a hydrogen peroxide-based solution, so it doesn't contain any preservatives that would irritate your eyes.
The way the hydrogen peroxide-based solution works, it releases bubbles during its chemical reaction. The bubbles help to pull the pollen off the lenses and will decrease the amount of time that you need to rub your lenses.
Rinse the pollen off your contact lenses while you are wearing them by using a preservative-free artificial tear. Find out which ones are contact lens compatible by downloading the guide here.
Tips 3: Be Cautious about Antihistamines
Oral antihistamines cause a reduction in the production of tears. Some common over the counter (OTC) oral antihistamine pills are Zyrtec, Allegra, or Claritin. They can lead to an increase in your dry eye symptoms.
Instead of swallowing an oral antihistamine, which will affect your whole body, try a nasal spray or an antihistamine eye drop instead.
There are several prescription and OTC allergy eye drops on the market that work well. Recently one of my favorite prescription allergy eye drops, Pataday, was released as an OTC product.
Pataday should be used by instilling one drop into each eye in the morning. Wait at least 10 minutes before putting your contact lenses in your eyes. It will keep your eyes comfortable and free of redness, watering and itching for over 16 hours.
Conclusion
The best ways of fitting eye allergy symptoms are to try to avoid getting the allergen on you as best as possible. Remove the clothing you wear outside once you are indoors and try to keep the pollen off of your contact lenses. Rinse your eyes or your contact lenses with artificial tears often. Download the guide to artificial tears here.
Try soothing your allergy symptoms at the source with nasal sprays and eye drops. Pataday is now an OTC allergy eye drop that can relieve your symptoms all day in a once-daily dose.
