Ocular Allergies Washington DC

1. Twenty percent of people in the United States suffer the discomfort of eye allergies.

2. Steroids are sometimes used to treat eye allergies, but they carry a much greater risk of short- and long-term side effects than other therapies, including risks for glaucoma and cataracts. Steroid use should be reserved only for cases which do not respond to other treatment and cases of severe forms of allergy.

3. The most effective way to treat the eye is with an eyedrop. If taking a pill for nasal allergy symptoms, consider adding an eyedrop to more effectively and specifically treat the ocular complaint.

4. Combination mast cell stabilizers and antihistamines, which combine mechanisms of both antihistaminic and mast cell stabilization in a single drug, are the most recently developed drugs of those available for topical treatment of ocular allergies.

5. More and more people seem to be suffering from allergies these days. The exact reason why is unclear, but some researchers believe that our clean, modern society no longer requires us to fight off multiple childhood infections, thus causing our immune systems to take on a more of an allergic stance.]

For the rest of this article, questions to ask your health care professional, information on diagnosis, treatment, prevention and more, click here.

Author: Editorial Staff of the National Women's Health Resource Center