Allergies Health Center

Eye Allergies

Drugs for Eye Allergies

Prescription eye drops are generally very effective for eye allergies, and, because they are applied topically, eye drops are usually free of many systemic side effects. Most eye drops are used twice a day, and many can be used to prevent the allergic reaction in the first place. Some common allergy eye drops include:

• Nedocromil (Alocril)
  
• Ketotifen (Zaditor)
  
• Olopatadine (Patanol)
  
• Azelastine (Optivar)
  
• Pemirolast (Alamast)
  
• Epinastine (Elestat)

Your ophthalmologist may prescribe cyclosporine A (Restasis). By helping to reduce the inflammatory and/or allergic reaction, cyclosporine A may help decrease symptoms.

For more serious cases, topical ophthalmic corticosteroids can be used; however, many of the older corticosteroids are associated with ocular side effects with long-term use. The newer ophthalmic corticosteroids have a much lower risk of ocular side effects. Some common topical ophthalmic corticosteroids are:

• Loteprednol 0.02% (Alrex)
  
• Loteprednol 0.05% (Lotemax)
  
• Prednisolone (AK-Pred)
  
• Rimexolone (Vexol)
  
• Medrysone (HMS)
  
• Fluorometholone (FML, FML Forte, FML Liquifilm)

Other Therapy for Eye Allergies

To identify those substances that you are most allergic to, skin testing by an allergist may be helpful.

Next Steps & Follow-up

Follow-up appointments for eye allergies are scheduled as needed.

• For mild cases of PAC and SAC, annual follow-up visits with an ophthalmologist may be appropriate.
  
• For more severe cases or for intermittent exacerbations of normally mild disease, more frequent visits with an ophthalmologist may be required.

Eye Allergy Prevention

Unfortunately, other than avoidance of the allergen(s), PAC and SAC cannot be prevented.

Outlook for Eye Allergies

Most people with eye allergies have nothing to worry about more than it being an annoying inconvenience. Although symptoms might make the activities of daily living miserable, no long-term vision loss is to be expected.