Sunday, February 12, 2012

Wednesday, May 14, 2008 Dorothy Duffield asks

Q: Can my son (8 years) use allergy eye drops for his hayfever along with an eye wash? Is it safe?

I would like to use an additional eye drop for my son's eyes, as he suffers so much

with his eyes due to hayfever that he can't open them in the morning or stand any

kind of bright light.  He is constantly rubbing his eyes due to irritation and the allergy

eye drops from the doctor can only be administered twice a day.  Our optician recommended using hypromellose eye drops, but our doctor did not agree with using them both together. I feel that if he could use something else to help soothe his eyes that did not interfere with the allergy drops (sodium cromoglicate), at any time of day, it would help him greatly.  If so, what would you recommend?

He is also using nasal spray and cetirizine tablets.

 

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Answers (2)
5/15/08 2:29pm

Hi Dorothy,

 

Your local pharmacist might the best one to answer this question, as he/she will be expert in how long the eye drops remain active in the eye and what substances could be safely mixed with them. So, I'd start there.

 

Speaking from a personal, rather than a professional, viewpoint, I've also found that wrapping ice in a soft washcloth (not a paper towel) and placing it on my itchy, red, swollen allergic eyes provides significant relief when meds aren't doing the job. It might be worth a try. You can also wipe around the eyes gently with the wet washcloth, which is pretty effective at getting rid of any mucus on the eyelashes and outside edges of the eyes. Be sure your son knows to take the ice cloth off the eyes every couple of minutes or so for a minute or two to avoid overexposing the eye tissues to freeze.

 

Hope this helps,

Kathi

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5/14/08 5:43pm

Has he tried Claritin chewables? 

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