Vernal Conjunctivitis

Vernal conjunctivitis is an allergic condition of the eye that usually occurs with the onset of spring. This inflammation is caused by an allergic reaction to certain stimuli such as pollen or animal dander, and causes symptoms such as itching, redness, discharge, and discomfort in the eyes. It may also be accompanied by allergic rhinitis and other allergy-related symptoms.

Causes

At the beginning of spring, many plants and trees bloom and pollen spreads, and the spread of insects and animal dander are all factors causing eye sensitivity in some people, and the beginning of people's access to swimming pools irritates the conjunctiva of the eye because of the chlorine in this water, in addition to weather factors such as drought and dust are also allergens.

Symptoms

Symptoms vary from person to person and range from mild symptoms that you can control to worsening and annoying symptoms that may disrupt you from working, and these symptoms are:

- Feeling that there is something strange in the eye (such as the feeling of sand, for example)

- Itching, may be severe.

-Redness

- Tearing (abundant tear secretion)

- Sensitivity to light 

- The presence of copious discharge from the eyes, especially in the morning when waking up from sleep.

Diagnosis

Your doctor will examine your eyes and ask you questions about your allergens, which objects or environment (such as being in a park) that are causing your symptoms, and go for diagnosis when you know what substances you mention to him, such as those mentioned above.

Treatment

Treatment includes eye drops that relieve allergies and symptoms and are in the category of antihistamines, mast cell stabilizers and decongestants. For mild cases, you may not need treatment or simple treatment of decongestant. For moderate-severity conditions, beneficial topical agents include double mast cell stabilization factors (olopatadine); pure topical antihistamines (levocapastine); pure mast cell stabilizers (chromolin); and decongestants (naphazoline plus pheniramine). It may be helpful to add a nonsteroidal topical medication (Ketorolac). The use of artificial tears also helps.

You should also stay away from allergens (allergens) as much as possible, in order to reduce dependence on medications because they may cause side effects or may decrease their effect in the long term.

In severe cases, your doctor may prescribe topical steroids when treatment isn't responding

Prevention

Prevention includes avoiding sensitive triggers such as animal cooper, pollen, mold...etc.

Alternative Medicine

You can clean your eyelids frequently with a damp cloth, and applying warm compresses will relieve congestion and soothe pain.

Heredity

Heredity plays an important role in allergy patients in general, and allergic conjunctivitis is one of them, as we may find more than one member of the same family with this type of allergy or even others. The same patient may have other allergic diseases such as asthma or allergic rhinitis.

?Contagious or not and the method of infection

In fact, allergic conjunctivitis is not contagious, but we must always maintain personal hygiene and not use other people's personal items such as towels or tissues. The symptoms of allergic conjunctivitis are similar to conjunctivitis caused by bacteria or viruses, so prevention is always better