Eyes - spring catarrh

Q: My son Rohil is 7 years old. Two years back he was diagonosed as suffering from bronchial asthma, although he only has wheezing and cough. He also has eczema on the folds of his neck, arms, legs. Since the past six months, he has been having red/sore itchy, watery eyes. The ophthalmic surgeon we consulted diagonosed it as spring catarrh and said it is an infection of the eyelids due to pollen, dust and sunrays. She has been treating him with Prednisolone Acetate eyedrops, Cortisone kemicetine ointment and Lacrigel ointment for nearly 6 months now. Some changes have been made on and off in these eyedrops. But there has been no marked improvement in his eyes. They are better as long as medication is on, worsening the moment the treatment is stopped. We have no idea how long this will continue and worry over the medication affecting my son"s eyesight. Please advise.

A:Your child is suffering from spring catarrh which is an allergic condition that requires long term treatment. Steroid drops alleviate symptoms the best but have some side effects. If possible your child can be shifted to mast cell stabilisers, non steroidal anti-inflamatory drugs etc. Consult your eye doctor.