i have contacts and my first pair of glasses in a year is coming in the mail. my eyes haven't had a break except over night in that time. this year, i somehow came down with allergies. eyes that aren't great already, that have allergies, on a day that's dry and dusty all adds up to me going home early after i tried to tough it out all day and ended up with one eye swollen almost shut, me writhing in pain as i rode home...ow. it's just as painful now, even after removing the lens, drinking some beer, taking some ibuprofen, showering to work up some steam...and i have to get my eye better by tomorrow so i can do it all again....ow.

anyone else have similar problems with allergies/contacts/etc while riding? home remedies? i know i can't be the only one out there with sensitive eyes who wears contacts, cycles a lot, and sometimes has problems with eye irritation.

I just have to take my contacts out and wear glasses for a few days sometimes, that **** sucks.. I also got pink eye last month and thought it was just contact irritation, that sucked.. could bearly open my eye.

I don't know about the allergies, but do you wear any kind of eye protection while riding? I wear contacts and can't stand to ride more than a few MPH without some kind of glasses. I've gotten gnats in my eyes before and it sucks, had to use a q-tip to get them out. Also I've had 1 or 2 days over the 3 years I've worn contacts that no matter how much I cleaned my contacts it felt like I had something in my eye making it red and irritated, then the next day when I put them back in, everything was fine, not sure what the deal was.

yeah, lately i only wear sunglasses while riding.

i can't wait to have glasses...sucks, though...without peripheral vision, i won't be able to ride in my usual aggressive style.

This year my allergies have been pretty bad, despite actually taking medication for it(I usually tough it out until I can't stand it or my sinuses are infected but I finally concluded I wasn't going to build up a tolerance to whatever pollen bothers me). I have found that even glasses aren't really enough and so when I go out on the road, I will drip a few drops of water from my bottle into my eyes and its enough to flush some of the pollen out and give me an hour's relief. I imagine if you've got to be out every day and no other solution presents itself, buy a bottle of eyedrops and use at will.

In the woods two days ago the air was thick with pollen as though I'd blown the dust off a tomb. My sunglasses helped a bit but it was also getting dark and I was losing track of the trail. Some days you just can't win.

+1 to allergies + contacts = sadness

Gainesville is known as one of the country's worst seasonal allergy hotspots. My doctor told me that if you don't have seasonal allergies when you move here, you're very likely to develop them at some point.

I eventually switched back to glasses after getting tired of the sensation grains of sand in my eye every time I blinked. Coupled with the fact that I am extremely lazy in the mornings, I haven't tried contacts again in the last three years -- though it is my understanding that with some of the newer contacts designs/super-duper hydrated models, there are options available. Something to be discussed with the ol' eye doc, I suppose.

I have the exact same problem. I have contacts, and have severe eye allergies. I just take some claratin in the morning (make sure you take it an hour before you go out. If your eyes get dusty before the meds kick in, ull be screwed all day) and carry a small bottle of contact lense cleaer to use as eyedrops when it gets really bad. Other than that, Im out of ideas

buy cycling specific glasses with swappable lenses for daytime, overcast, and night. i don't know how i rode without them.

I've had contacts for about ten years, and pretty bad seasonal allergies for almost as long. If you're not already on a daily allergy medication, definitely get one. Personally, Claritin (loratidine) doesn't do much, but it's OTC now and it helps. Zyrtec might help you, but it's Rx.

The biggest topical things I can suggest are wearing big sunglasses while riding, and carrying/using good quality eye drops. Forget Visine or plain saline, and try Genteal or Systane (my personal favourite). My father is an eye doctor, so I've tried almost every type of eye drop out there, and Systane is pretty good at flushing crap out of your eye and keeping your eyes comfortable for an hour or so.

+1 for the suggestion of cycling specific glasses with swappable lenses.

Plus, I will throw out that you folks have nothing to complain about. I wear coke bottom bottle glasses and have to get the old man over the glasses sun glasses. So don't complain to me, OK?

Dude, because of eye allergies, I'd rather ride in the dead of winter than the middle of summer.

I'm not sure if this stuff will work with contacts (I wear glasses), but Visine makes an antihistamine eyedrop called Visine-A (I think it used to be called Ocuhist). Instant relief, and it lasts for hours. I put a few drops in before I ride, and carry it with me wherever I go.

i'm thinking now it might be a pinkeye-like infection. so i'm not working today really. i might walk a few packages today, but i can't see well enough to ride. pardon any typos, i'm getting tired ot typing with my face inches from the screen.