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Condition

Eye allergies

Eye allergies happen when your eyes react to things like pollen, dust, mold or pet dander. They make your eyes itchy, red and watery, but they are not contagious and are usually easy to manage.

Key points

Common signs
Itchy, red, watery eyes and puffy eyelids, often with sneezing or a runny nose. Itching is the main clue.
Who’s at risk
People with hay fever, asthma or eczema, or a family history of allergies.
How it’s found
Your eye doctor asks about your triggers and looks closely at your eyes and inner eyelids with a microscope.
Treatment
Avoiding triggers, cool compresses, artificial tears and anti-allergy eye drops. Stronger drops can help bad flare-ups.
A woman rubbing her face under blossoming trees in allergy season

Eye allergies happen when your body overreacts to something that is usually harmless, like pollen, dust, mold or pet dander. These are called allergens. When an allergen lands on your eye, cells in the thin, clear layer that covers the white of your eye release chemicals, such as histamine. Those chemicals make your eyes itchy, red, watery and swollen.

The medical name is allergic conjunctivitis. It is a kind of pink eye, but unlike pink eye caused by a virus or bacteria, it is not contagious.

There are two common patterns:

  • Seasonal allergies come and go with pollen from trees, grass and weeds, often in spring, summer or fall.
  • Year-round allergies are caused by things that are around all the time, like dust mites, pet dander and mold.

Some people react to things that touch the eye directly, such as eye makeup, eye drops or contact lens solutions. Contact lens wearers can also get irritated bumps on the inside of the upper eyelid.

Eye allergies are uncomfortable but usually don’t harm your vision. A few less common kinds are seen mostly in children with allergies and in people with eczema. These can affect the clear front of the eye and need regular care from an eye doctor.

Symptoms usually affect both eyes and may include:

  • Itching, often the main clue that allergies are the cause
  • Redness
  • Watery eyes
  • Burning
  • Puffy, swollen eyelids
  • A clear, watery or stringy discharge
  • Being bothered by bright light

Many people also have sneezing, a stuffy or runny nose, or an itchy throat at the same time.

A red eye that affects only one eye, hurts, or has a thick yellow or green discharge is less likely to be allergies. It is worth having that checked.

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Related care topics

Sources

  1. Eye Allergies: Why Are My Eyes Itchy? — American Academy of Ophthalmology
  2. Allergies — American Optometric Association
  3. Pink Eye — National Eye Institute

This page is for general education and is not a diagnosis. If you have a concern about your health, contact us.