LASIK St Louis | Brinton Vision
There is hope for itchy eyes.
If you are one of the 22 million Americans who suffer with seasonal allergies, you probably aren’t as excited about this month’s warmer temperatures and spring blooms as you could be. If you wear contact lenses, your sense of allergy dread might make your eyes fill up with tears—but there are things you can do to ease the pain and irritation.
- Don’t touch! Contact lenses seem to attract dust and pollen, and so do our fingers. When you touch your contacts, those allergens get stuck on or inside of them. The result is itchy, often painfully irritated eyes. If you must touch your eyes, wash your hands first with soap and water.
- Don the specs. If you haven’t worn glasses for a while, or if you simply dislike wearing them, this might be a difficult compromise. Unfortunately, it may be one you have to make to find some relief.
- Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. No, not by drinking water (although that surely wouldn’t hurt), but rather by using artificial tears or lubricating eye drops. This will wash the allergens out of your eyes, and will also ease your suffering. (Note: Do not use over-the-counter redness reducers. These often do more harm than good and will do nothing to ease your allergy reactions.) Talk to your optometrist about which drops are most compatible with your contact lenses. He or she may prescribe anti-inflammatory or antihistamine drops, too.
- Throw ’em away. If you must use contacts, try switching to daily disposables. You won’t have to feel the effects of allergen build-up, and your symptoms are more likely to be kept at bay.
- Keep it clean. Wash your bedding, particularly pillow cases, often. Use an electric dryer instead of hanging them out to dry, since fabrics are more likely to pick up allergens when they’re outside in the breeze. Vacuum often, too, and use a HEPA filter to get rid of dust, pollen and other irritants.
- Get LASIK. It goes without saying that one of the best alternatives to dealing with allergies and contact lenses is to eliminate the problem. It’s difficult to eliminate allergies, but when contacts make them worse, it makes sense to get rid of the hassle and ongoing expense.
Allergies or not, there’s no better time to find out if LASIK or one of its six modern alternatives is right for you. Schedule your comprehensive Brinton Vision Ocular Analysis online by clicking here, or call 314.375.2020. Clear, natural vision never looked so good!