Dry Eyes And Allergies Specialist

What are dry eyes?

Dry eye is a condition that happens when you don’t produce enough tears or you produce poor-quality lubricating tears. Your eyes produce tears for lubrication and tears in response to emotion, eye irritation, or allergies. Oddly, your eyes may excessively water when you have dry eyes because you don’t produce enough lubricating tears and irritation causes an increased amount of non-lubricating damages. 

Dry eyes may cause symptoms such as:

• Burning
• Irritation
• Redness
• Blurry vision
• Scratchy feeling
• Increased light sensitivity 
• Excess tearing

When you have dry eyes, you may be more susceptible to infection, eye movement may be uncomfortable, and it may be difficult to wear contact lenses. 

How can allergies affect my eyes?

If you have red, inflamed, irritated eyes, you may be sensitive to seasonal or environmental allergens. Allergic conjunctivitis, or inflammation of the membrane lining under the eyelids, is not uncommon and is often confused with infectious conjunctivitis. What most people call “pink eye” is the infectious type of conjunctivitis and typically only affects one eye. 

Allergic conjunctivitis affects both eyes and may cause symptoms such as:

• Redness
• Itching 
• Swelling
• Excessive tearing

The team at the North Texas Center for Sight helps determine the underlying cause of your conjunctivitis, to ensure it is not viral, bacterial, or due to dry eyes or other eye condition. 

What are the treatments for dry eye or allergies? 

Over-the-counter artificial tears may help improve your dry eye symptoms. In some cases, you may need prescription-strength eye drops and further testing to see if you have more serious underlying causes for your dry eyes. 

For eye-related allergic reactions, avoiding allergens, applying cold compresses, and using artificial tears may improve your symptoms. You may need prescription-strength anti-allergy eye drops if your symptoms don’t improve. 

In most cases, dry eye and allergic conjunctivitis is easily treatable and not of significant concern or danger to your eye health. The team at the North Texas Center for Sight is knowledgeable and experienced in treating and diagnosing these and more serious causes for your symptoms. 

If you have symptoms of dry eyes or allergic conjunctivitis, call or schedule an appointment online with the North Texas Center for Sight, today.