Allergies and Your Eyes

March 20th marks the first official day of spring — a day that many of us look forward to throughout the long winter months, but with spring’s beautiful weather and blooming flowers comes seasonal allergies. High levels of pollen, dust and other irritants can leave eyes feeling less than stellar. Approximately one fifth of all Americans suffer from eye allergies leaving them with itchy, swollen, watery, and red eyes.

March is Workplace Eye Safety Awareness Month

Over 2,000 eye injuries occur each day on job sites across the U.S. and one in ten of those injuries required missed days of works to recover. Of the total amount of work-related eye injuries that occur, 10 to 20 percent will cause temporary or permanent vision loss. While many think that eye injuries only occur in construction, trade or manufacturing jobs, nearly 40% of work-related eye injuries happen in healthcare facilities, offices, laboratories and other similar work environments. Safety experts and eye care providers agree that the right eye protection could have lessened the severity of these injuries or even prevented 90% of them.