Causes Of Itchy Eyes

By Renee Foo   

 

In a nutshell, itchy eyes develop as a symptom of some other medical reasons. We need to understand and determine whether the itchiness in the eyes is a result of allergies or illness or diseases. There are many causes of itchy eyes. The following is an attempt to list the major and common causes of itchy eyes but this is no way a complete listing due to the many possibilities of rendering one with this itchiness in the eyes.

Allergy

Under the allergies section discussed, there are mainly 4 broad categories of these allergens that are capable of causing an allergy. To recap this again, they are the external outdoors, in-door household, food and medication as well as animal.

Allergies are often triggered by external environmental substances. Itchy eyes can develop if one comes into contact with dirt and dust (external environment/ in-door household), pollen from plants and flowers (external environment/ in-door household), animal dander from cats and dogs (external environment/ in-door household), and lastly food and medication.

Common Cold

Common cold affects people across all age groups. This is by far the most potent and dangerous illness to strike the human's immune system. It adopts a very agile structure in that it is able to mutate its form neutralizing the anti-bodies developed to suppress it. Common cold is a viral infection. When contracted, itchy eyes usually develop together with other symptoms such as running nose, sneezing, cough, headache, itchy throat, tiredness, congestion and fever. Common cold normally last 2 weeks and itchy eyes can last as long as this infection before it is clear up.

Pinkeye or Conjunctivitis

Itchy eyes may develop as a symptom of pinkeye. Unlike the other symptoms resulting from allergies or common cold, pinkeye is a highly contagious disease. This is even more potent among the young people. Pinkeye is usually a bacterial or viral infection. It may also be due to allergies. The name given as a result of allergy is called Allergic Conjunctivitis. This will cause the eyes to be itchy, red and watery.

Conjunctivitis can damage the cornea and impair the vision in some extreme cases if condition is left untreated.

Dry Eyes

Dry eyes refer to a condition resulting from the eye's lachrymal glands deficiency. The lachrymal glands are not able to produce adequate tears, thus making the eyes dry. This dryness in the eyes without the tears to moist the eyes normally result in much discomfort.

The irritated eyes are likely to develop redness, get itchy due to this dryness and in swelling are possible. Similar to allergies, the external factors such as dry weather and smoke can aggravate dry eyes condition. Artificial eye-drops are commonly available over the shelf for self medication to treat dry eyes.

Blepharitis

Blepharitis refers to a condition of a persistent inflammation of the eyelids. This condition may be due to a bacterial infection in the skin around the eyelids. While this may be a minor condition that does not mean that it will not cause a problem.

The resulting itchiness in the eyes can be very irritating.

Millions of people suffer from eyes diseases. Eyes are one of the most important organs of the human body, and it is vital that these eyes are well taken care of.

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