The eyes have it

By Dr Cindy Pan
February 03, 2008 12:00am

From UFOs to allergies, many things can trouble your peepers. Here¿s how to fix those irritations that leave you teary.

Sighting a UFO is one of the more unusual causes of eye irritation, with numerous UFO witnesses claiming to have suffered eye redness, irritation and even temporary blindness following a sighting.

For most of us, however, eye irritation is caused by dust, dryness, allergy or simply lack of sleep.

We all get the odd foreign body in the eye from time to time and usually it washes out with a few blinks and a bit of tearing.

Occasionally, however, it may lodge in an awkward spot, such as under the eyelid, and prove difficult to shift.

To dislodge it, wash the eye out with sterile saline while holding the eye wide open, ideally with the upper eyelid flipped up. Failing this, you could use clean tap water poured or squirted into the eye.

If your eye still feels irritated and you are blinking or tearing a lot, see your doctor or visit your local emergency department for a thorough examination and review.

Sometimes the foreign body may not actually be there any more, but its presence may have resulted in abrasion, ulceration or staining of the cornea.

Contact lens wearers may be particularly prone to getting foreign bodies in their eyes.

Wearing large wraparound sunglasses may help in terms of prevention, but once you have something in there the best thing is to remove the lens and give it a wash. Ideally, give your eye a break from the lens for a while.

Sometimes eye irritation is caused not so much by what is in the eye as what is not – adequate lubrication, for example.

Dryness is a very common cause of eye irritation which, ironically, can cause the eyes to appear very watery and teary.

It may seem counterintuitive to imagine watering eyes could actually be too "dry”, but this is often the case.

When eyes fail to produce normal tears (which are a combination of oil, water and mucus) the eyes become irritated, resulting in “reflex tearing".

Unfortunately this kind of tearing produces only the water component and not the oil and mucus, so the essential lubricating balance is upset further, making the eyes even more irritated and dry.

This is why when you cry a lot, your eyes become red and irritated rather than soothed: the watery tears don’t efficiently lubricate the eyes and in fact cause them to become drier and more irritated.

If dry eyes are a problem for you, try artificial tears or lubricating gel to ease your discomfort and talk to your doctor about what may be causing the dryness and what can be done.

Allergy can of course result in eye irritation. Work with your doctor to try to pinpoint the allergy trigger, then avoid it. If the trigger is not readily avoidable, ask your doctor which drops or tablets (such as antihistamines) may help.

Finally, one of the most common causes of eye irritation is tiredness or lack of sleep. When you feel as if someone has tipped a sandpit into your eyes and you are rubbing them and yawning a lot, go to bed!

Q What is immunotherapy and how does it work?

A Immunotherapy is a process of desensitising a person to their allergic triggers by injecting gradually increasing amounts of the allergic material over a period of years.

By regularly and repeatedly challenging the person with tiny but slowly increasing amounts of the allergen, you can change the way the immune system reacts and eventually switch off the allergic response.

Over time, the person becomes “immune” to the allergens and can tolerate them with few or no symptoms.

If your allergic symptoms are severe, affecting your quality of life and ability to function or requiring significant use of medication; or if you find that medication is unable to adequately relieve your symptoms and you find it difficult to avoid the triggers, ask your doctor if immunotherapy would be a suitable option for you.