If you are suffering from seasonal allergic conjunctivitis, there are a number of practical things that you can do which may help to ease your symptoms. These include:

• keeping doors and windows closed when the pollen count is high,

• avoiding going out at certain times of the day when the pollen count is at its highest, such as in the mornings and evenings,

• wearing wrap-around sunglasses when you are outside, and

• fitting a pollen filter to your car.

If you wear contact lenses, and you have allergic conjunctivitis, you should:

• remove your contact lenses until your symptoms resolve,

• avoiding rubbing your eyes, and

• you may find that placing a cool compresses on the affected eye/s helps to ease your symptoms.

Where possible, try to avoid contact with any allergens that are known to trigger your symptoms. For example, if you know that a particular type of make up causes allergic conjunctivitis, use an alternative or stop using it altogether. Reducing your exposure to dust mites, by regularly dusting with a damp cloth, can also be useful in preventing allergic conjunctivitis from developing.

If you have allergic conjunctivitis, the best way to prevent your symptoms getting worse is to make sure that you treat the condition promptly. If you know which medicines best ease your symptoms, then make sure that you take them when your symptoms first begin to show. If you need to visit your physician for treatment, try to get an appointment as soon as you can.

Prevention of allergic conjunctivitis is best accomplished by avoiding the allergen, if it is known. In many cases, however, this is impossible since the allergy-causing agents are everywhere nearly all the time.