Did you know? In the past few months, more allergy relief eyedrops have appeared on the over-the-counter shelf. Previously, I wrote about Zaditor eyedrops, then Alaway. Both of these drops are formulations of ketotifen, a compound with anti-itch and anti-allergy properties, which actually works, has few side-effects, and no rebound redness or itching when it wears off.
Since then, four competitors have introduced their own brand: Refresh Eye Itch Relief, Visine All Day Eye Itch Relief, and more recently, Claritin Eye, and Zyrtec Itchy Eye Drops.
It is obvious that many of these drops are hoping to build on the brand-name recognition of their allergy pills. (the eyedrops are not the same ingredient as the antihistamine pills!)
All of these drops contain the same concentration of the same active ingredient, (ketotifen 0.025%) and as far as I can tell, the same inactive ingredients. Consider them identical, and shop by price.
In my comparison shopping, the Bausch and Lomb product, Alaway, is by far the least expensive. It comes in a 10 cc bottle, while all of the others come in 5 cc bottles.
All of these drops work much better than any previous over-the-counter allergy eyedrop, without the side effects like rebound redness. Please buy these products before buying any product which "gets the red out." (Those products can have rebound redness and irritation)
These drops were prescription-only until recently. I always recommend these before the prescription-only drops (like Patanol) because they work and are much, much less expensive (at least in the case of Alaway).
Did you also know? One of the most effective treatments for itchy eyes is completely free! A washcloth with cold water is very effective at decreasing the itching of allergic eye problems.