It is a common notion among people across the world that allergy only hits your nose but in actual this is not the case. Your eyes are equally prone to get smacked by an allergy attack. Your eyes have a clear layer of skin overlying it and this layer is known as conjunctiva. Generally when you are allergic to something, conjunctiva is attacked and this medical condition is called conjunctivitis. It can be divided into mainly two categories: seasonal and perennial. Both of these conditions are triggered when allergens attack your immune system, which is your body’s natural defense system. In majority cases, your immune system fights against these foreign bodies and protect you from various problems or allergies. But when your immune system is weak or fails to do its job properly, then allergens become stronger and affects your eyes resulting in redness, itching, teary eyes and much more.
There are a number of allergens that can affect your eyes, namely
- Pollen
- Weeds
- Trees
- Pet dander
- Dust mites
- Mold
- Cigarette smoke
- Perfume diesel exhaust
These allergens are generally not harmful for all people but those people whose body reacts to them become victims of eye allergy. In such people, when their eyes come in contact with the allergens, a chemical known as histamine is released that causes your blood vessels to leak and produces allergy symptoms that causes a lot of irritation and problem in your eyes. The symptoms that a person experiences due to eye allergy are similar to some eye disease. Therefore, it becomes quite difficult to differentiate between the two problems. The symptoms of allergy can be from very mild to severe ones which can even cause loss of vision. One must immediately go to the eyes specialist if your symptoms don’t go away with over-the-counter remedies and persist for longer duration of time. If you keep ignoring your eye problems for extended period of time, you may have to face harsh consequences.
Some of the symptoms that you might experience when you suffer from eye allergy are:
- Redness
- Teary eyes
- Itching
- Burning sensation
- Severe pain
- Swollen eyelids
- Eye become sensitive to light
- Watery discharge
You may also experience some other symptoms along with the above mentioned symptoms like running nose and sneezing. Eye allergy can persist again and again if you come in contact with the allergens. Therefore, it becomes necessary to identify the allergens so that you can stay away from them and keep yourself free from problems.