My 5 year old daughter has been rubbing her eyes and more recently, saying her eyes hurt. (There is no eye drainage.) I noticed the eye rubbing but just thought she was tired. She has been playing outside considerably more due to the warmer temps. I have been washing her face with a cool washcloth and sending her to bed . My husband also noticed the eye rubbing and said "maybe it is allergies". I didn't even consider this until his comment. No one in our household has seasonal allergies. It just wasn't on my rader.
How do I know if it is seasonal allergies? And if so, what OTC treatment might you recommend for a 5 year old?
ADD: Now that I think about it, I did notice a slight running nose the other day. No sneezing. Those who suffer from allergies, could you describe what she might mean by her eyes "hurt"? She can't seem to put it into words for me. Does it feel like grit in the eye? Pain around the eye orbit? I feel bad that I haven't given this serious consideration until now.
I noticed you are in the midwest, as I. This is suppose to be the worst season on record for seasonal allergies. I know for me personally I can feel it. A "normal" high pollen count is ###-###-####. Pollen counts here in the Kansas City area have been in the 8000-10,000 range. And NO that is not a typo! So people who may have never had problems before are having problems this year.
Good Luck
I have allergies, as does my daughter who is 6. She was just rubbing her eyes today as well! And your daughter probably has dry eyes (which I get). It basically feels like they are stinging a bit. It DOES hurt when they are dry and that can definitely be an allergic reaction. You don't need to have a runny nose or other symptoms when you have allergies- symptoms vary. Not saying she DOES have allergies, but it sounds just like it! As far as treatment, Children's Zyrtec seems to work well with my daughter. It doesn't seem to cause any drowsiness or other noticeable side-effects. ...and the honey idea seems smart, too! For the dry, "allergy eyes" eye drops can work wonders...if she will let you give them to her.
I've heard of the honey trick but never tried it. Guess I'll have to do that too. '
We started with Children's Claritin before mine was diagnosed by the doc wth her severe allergies. She is now on a nose spray and two other antihistimines.
We also gave one of mine LIttle Noses, recommended by one of the pediatricians through the years. I have four ages 9-21. One was going nuts about two weeks ago.
Hey, does your daughter have a stye in her eye? They can be hard to see. Allergies? Is she sneezing or does she have a runny nose? I just started giving my 32 month old Zyrztec. (per her allergist and peds doctor) O=yea also eye drops will help with the itching. If it is pollen you are doing the right thing: with the washcloth. But I was told to change my childs cloths. wash her hair and a cool bath as soon as she comes in. Her doctor told me to keep her inside as much as I can with the high pollen count. Try Eye drops and talk with your doctor about zyrtec or claritin. This is tough. But if she has pollen allergies you might have to give her something everyday to help get it (the otc meds) in her little system. Good Luck and let me know if this helps.
Ask your pharmacist for the correct meds to give your child. She will probably need a antihistamine and some eye drops.
I finally took our daughter to the optometrist as well as her physician for meds after the annual allergies were just too much for her.
You can never have had seasonal allergies before and then out of the blue be effected by the pollen and such. Especially if there's an abnormally high count. There are a lot of great OTC's that work well (My personal favorite is Zyrtec or the generic). But My daughter and I also use honey. Take one tsp of LOCAL honey each day. after about a week you will start building a natural immunity to the local pollens. It must be local to work, and if you plan on traveling plan on having a back up plan ;) Hope you all start feeling better soon :D
my eyes itch right on the rim of the bottom. its hard to itch there too. her eyes are probably burning and itching. if she can swallow a pill have her do zyrtec i dont know if she can get liquid I use benedryl as my daily allergy meds. get her some allergy eye drops any brand will work they all work the same. but if she complains her eyes hurt worse or burn when you put the drops in that is normal it lasts about 30 seconds. if I remeber right opcon a is the one with a little more burn to it. but I love it.
If you keep her inside for a day with the windows closed, after she's had a bath, is it better? Exposure should demonstrably affect irritation levels.
If she seems to be reacting more to being outside, try some children's benadryl and see if it helps. It's a bad allergy season.
I would try liquid zyrtec or claritin (they have generic versions of both that are less expensive). See if that helps, and that will help you figure out if she may in fact have allergies. This season is apparently very severe as far as pollen counts, so it certainly could be what is going on. You might also ask her if her throat has felt scratchy or anything - in our family some of us get scratchy throats as an additional symptom. I would not use the benadryl during the day because it makes people very sleepy, plus it lasts only 4 hours.
