What Causes Puffy Eyes? Causes and Treatments

One (or two) of the most common symptoms of an allergy is swollen eyes. If you’re experiencing this, you’ll want to know what causes the swelling and how to treat it. We’re here to help you and your puffy eyes! Here are the causes, treatments and preventative steps you can take to tackle this frustrating problem.

Swollen eyes from allergies: Causes

Sneezing, an itchy throat and puffy eyes cause irritation when you’re suffering with an allergy, but what specifically causes an allergic reaction and swollen eyes? It’s the body working to deal with irritants that are caused by foreign invaders, such as dust, pet dander or a pollen allergy. Swollen eyes from allergies are a reaction to the body’s release of chemicals, which serves to protect your eyes but also causes the itchiness and redness.

What to do for swollen eyes?

There are a number of over-the-counter eye allergy treatment options including eye drops and artificial tears. However, it’s good practice to consult a medical professional if things get really bad or aren’t improving. In order to alleviate the irritation yourself, give the following swollen eye allergy home remedy solutions a try:

• Cold compresses. A clean flannel soaked with cold water can help with inflammation and give you some relief from the sensation.
• Eye rinses. Splashing cold water on your eyes can help loosen allergens and flush them out.

Avoiding a pollen allergy

The best eye allergy home remedy is to avoid the problem in the first place. This is often quite straight forward when it comes to a pollen allergy. The following preventative steps may help you avoid it entirely:

• Check the forecast. One of the most effective ways of avoiding swollen eyes caused by allergies is to stay inside when the pollen count is high. A quick check of the weather forecast could save you a lot of irritation in the long run.
• Wear wraparound sunglasses. Of course, there’ll be some days you have to go out, regardless of whether the pollen count is high or not, and on these days sunglasses are your friend. Wear wraparound frames that cling to your face to help block allergens from making their way into your eyes.
• Keep your windows closed. Pollen can work its way into your home if you leave the windows open. Use fans in your home on hot days and crank up the air conditioning in your car, just resist the temptation to let air in via your windows.

If you have an allergic reaction, swollen eyes or other nasty symptoms there are various professional eye allergy treatment options you can try. These are important if your reaction is severe or long lasting. For more minor cases there are a range of eye allergy home remedy possibilities. Try one of the options above and see how you get on.