Child complaining of stinging eyes

[Heath3]

DD 8 has been complaining that her eyes are stinging for the past 6 weeks. Shes been rubbing her eyes and squinting at things during this time. Came on suddenly after she got back from a sleepover at a friend's place (may have nothing to do with that but just happened to notice it straight after).

It went away briefly for about 10 days in the middle but is back again for the past week. We've taken her to the optician to have her prescription checked and it's all ok with her vision and she couldn't see any issues.

I'm wondering if it may be allergies but she has no other symptoms at all. What could it be?

My son had this and was diagnosed with allergic conjunctivitis

Is she tired? Did the optician check for dry eye? Although the latter usually manifests as watery eyes. Hayfever?

My DD had this. We went to the GP for another issue and she was rubbing her eyes (had done this on and off for a week but started rubbing them again when we were there so I mentioned it). GP said it was irritable eyes or something along those line (perhaps conjunctivitis? I can’t remember!) and prescribed drops. She had them for a few days and then was fine. I couldn’t think what had started it, but the drops sorted it!

I suggest hayfever.

It's probably a bit of dry eye, which is a bit unusual in a child, but if they're not red and she's no other symptoms and the optician has checked her out, there's not a huge amount else it could be.

Sometimes you get secondary dryness after a mild viral conjunctivitis.

I would go to the chemist and get some non-preserved hypromellose drops (which are very mild dry eye drops - make sure you get the non-preserved ones.) Try those 3 x a day for 3/4 days and see if they resolve the symptoms.

If the symptoms come back after ceasing the treatment, please go back to the opticians and see if there is an underlying cause for the dryness like blepharitis .

It could be pollen or dust related. Try an antihistamine for a few days to see if there is any improvement. Get them to sit next to a bowl of cold water, a piece of kitchen towel and get them to squeeze the very damp towel against their eyes to "wash" any irritant out. I find this way far better than an over the counter eyewash.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I have been giving her hayfever eye drops as this is what I initially suspected. Doesn't seem to help much. This evening I noticed that she's in a lot of discomfort while watching screens. I'd normally think this is from eye strain but her eyes have just been checked out and she has the correct prescription. I might just take her to the GP to be checked out.

@underneaththeash @CantThinkOfANameAtAll Thanks for the advice. I'll try both of these.

OP I wouldn’t try both at the same time as antihistamines can cause dryness. Screens reduce blink rate and increase eye dryness.

I would also stop the hay fever drops for a week before starting dry eye drops as they’re preserved and can also cause a reaction.

An optician told me not to use water from the tap in my eyes as there can be a harmful bacteria in it and to only use eye bath sets from the chemist

Did you find out what was wrong in the end? Or did it go away??

It went away after a couple of months. I did consult an ophthalmologist who said it might just be dry eyes and to try eye drops twice a day.