Spring into allergy season - 10 hints for the afflicted

Spring in Wellington is not our best season – you think winter is over, but then those annoying winds start up, and we just want to look forward to proper summer.  If you are unlucky, spring is also the return of your hayfever and other allergies. 

Our optometrists hints for avoiding those allergy eyes!

1.      Don’t touch or rub your eye – it only makes it worse.  Try a cold damp flannel instead.

2.      Wash your hands often and especially after touching pets or out in the garden

3.      Wear sunglasses, even a face mask if out in the grass

4.      Get someone else to mow the lawn – if you have to, wear sunglasses and change your clothes afterwards

5.      Keep a box of single use eye drops at home, and if you often need anti-allergy eye drops, make sure you keep an unopened bottle at home.  Then you can start treating before the allergy problem gets out of hand. 

6.      Keep pets off the pillows – and the bed, & out of your bedroom.  No –one wants to ban their cat, but try not to make the problems worse!

7.      Avoid eye makeup.

8.      Wash your hair at night – especially if you have a lot of hair as the pollen and hair static go well together, dropping off onto your pillow after a few hours, causing more eye allergies.

9.      Pillows with dust covers, washed frequently and regularly replaced can make a big difference.

10.   Contact lens wearers if not already in daily disposable lenses, have some boxes to just swap to these in allergy times.

If you suffer from allergies, it’s just your immune system responding to an “allergen” that causes a chain of events that give you the itchy, red, watery eyes. 

The chain of events is the conjunctiva becoming inflamed with histamine released and the blood vessels expanding.  So the treatment approach is to settle the histamine release and constrict the blood vessels.

If your eye allergies are not managed, then please book an appointment with our optometrist, we can help you.