Itching eyes? Do I go to my family doctor or my optometrist for treatment?

Question

My eyes started itching last night, like I want to scratch them itching. I flushed them with saline solution and put a cold press on them to sleep. They still itch like crazy. The pollen counts are mild in my area and I'm doing nothing new. What could it be? What how long before I should visit the doctor.

Thanks,
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Answer 1

Your family doctor cannot examine your eyes with a slit lamp to ensure nothing else is causing the itching. Optometrists are trained in handling things just like this. Call and make an appointment to be seen. Itching usually suggests it is an ocular allergy. You can try OTC oral treatments but they usually have little to no affect on ocular allergies. Treatments such as visine often cause rebound redness that is worse than the reason for their use.
Allergies are developed after repeated exposure to something. You cannot be allergic to something the first time you are around it. So, this explains why you aren't doing anything new and are experiencing this. People develop new allergies all the time.
I myself suffer from ocular allergies at times and know how irritating they can be. You optometrist can Rx allergy drops that will provide great relief! Good luck!

Answer 2

A regular family doctor is better than the optometrist. He can give you prescription eye drops like zaditor, which work well but very expensive. Before you do that just go to the drugstore and buy some OTC eye drops for eye allergies and see if that helps you. OTC pills like claritin can also help. Usually you don't need any doctor for mild allergies like that. If your eyes start to get very red and swollen, you will probably need the script.

Answer 3

you may suffer from allergic conjunctivitis.Anti allergy eye ointment along with antibacterial medicine will cure your problem.Go and check up your eyes with an ophthalmologist. Do not scratch your eyes as it will aggravate your problem.

Answer 4

call the doctor now and make an appiontment. it sounds like a medical problem rather than an optical one.