If you have become sensitised to pollen your body releases histamine when it enters your body through the nose, mouth or eyes. This causes your nose to run and your throat to feel ticklish, and it also produces the redness and inflammation in your eyes that include itching, watering, and puffy eyelids.
Even though you feel as if you'd like to scratch your eyeballs out, that's pretty much the worst thing you can do for allergy eyes. The sheer force of your rubbing will irritate your eyes and make them even more inflamed.
So what to do?
Keeping pollen from getting into your eyes in the first place is of course the only surefire way of reducing symptoms. That means wearing pollen goggles or specially made wraparound dark glasses all the time.
The best ones (pictured) have a comfortable foam-lined frame that seals out pollen, dust and other allergens whilst retaining moisture around the eye. It creates a barrier to the eyes for those suffering from dry eye, allergies, dust, wind, and extreme bright light too.
To soothe fiery, itchy eyeballs, you'll find a wide choice of eyedrops at the chemist, but go for the ones that contain a substance called sodium cromoglycate. This can stop mast cells from releasing histamine, preventing symptoms. They work particularly well when used alongside antihistamine and steroid sprays.
See all our recommended products for hayfever and rhinitis.