allergic shiners

Neither of my sons have them. My sister's two children do, though. Both of them constantly have runny noses and the younger boy has eczema on his face almost all of the time. Their doctor said that with those dark circles under their eyes and the younger one's eczema, they would probably have allergies. My sister refuses to do anything about it. Drives me crazy!!

No shiners, but rosy cheeks. Before I knew that Ben had allergies, someone told me that rosy cheeks (which he has) can be a sign of allergy. I never knew. My Dad also had/has rosy cheeks and used to be allergic to some foods, although he can't remember what. Anyway, just another tidbit of information--rosy cheeks can indicate allergies. I had never heard of allergic shiners.

Yes, my daughter has shiners. We are also often told that she looks tired or sick. At first it bothered me but now I just let it roll off my back. I realized that most people don't mean any harm. They just say whatever comes into their heads. When my daughter's dermatologist saw her(before we knew she was pa,) he said she had "allergy eyes". He told me she was allergic to something although he couldn't tell me what. Since we found out she is peanut and sesame seed allergice and have eliminated the offenders, her eyes have looked much better. - Peggy

Yes, and I guess. lol My oldest (3, non-PA) definently does. Always has, though I didn't know until recently that they were ALLERGY shiners. I just always assumed she was a little anemic, and gave her multi-vitamins every day. (which have never gotten rid of the dark circles, incidentally...) My youngest (2, PA) I'm not sure about. haven't noticed any circles under his eyes since he was about 4-5mo old and still FTT. The first thing the allergist said when she saw Matt was "Oh good! He doesn't have the dark circles like so many allergic kids do!". BUT I got a 'summary of your visit' thing in the mail a few days ago and in there it states that "upon examination, the patient was found to have dark ocular circles, consistent with allergies" or something to that effect. So I guess the allergist decided he did have them after all, just not real pronounced??? I don't know. He does get rosy cheeks from time to time, but I think that's because he overheats so easily. He's only done the BRIGHT red cheeks once so far. That was just a couple of days ago.

My non PA daughter has shiners and red cheeks. All we know she's allergic to so far is dust mites.

My son does not have shiners but his eyes are always red and swollen/puffy. My friends daughter always has the shiners around her eyes but she refuses to think it may be allergies.

What are shiners?

"Allergy Shiners"

A huge subgroup of vessel-inspired dark-under eye circles are caused by allergies, said Tippett, a nurse at a California allergy clinic. Allergies make people sleep badly, she said, but that's not what creates dark circles. The body's reaction to the allergen brings extra fluid to the hammocks (crescent shaped area under the eye), the vessels swell, and the look is complete. Rubbing itchy eyes can actually break the little blood vessels, creating faint bruising that ushers in the "ghoul" look.

Jami

My PA son also has allergic shiners, almost all the time as well as red cheeks.

The only allergy that Wade has tested positive for is to peanuts. He was seen by the allergist in November and I requested that he be tested for environmental allergies and he tested negative. This is kind of frustrating for us because he suffers from asthma with numerous ER visits because of it and we are unable to determine what his triggers are.

Regards,

Katiee (Wade's mom)

Allergic shiners...now that's one of my daughter's biggest annoyances with the PA. She is almost 14, and as kids that age are, she is very into appearances. I can't tell you how many people have commented, but the worst is when a teacher says something in front of the whole class. Too bad people don't always think before they speak! It's just another aspect of living with this, and she is learning to cope.

My daughter, who I just confirmed is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, has shinners. My son who is allergic to everything (almost) does not. Although, I am aware of all of his allergies and just finding out about my daughters. So she must be having something that she is allergic to. My husbands whole family has them, complains of discomfort after eating certain foods, but all deny they have allergies - Go Figure!

Melinda

Thinking before you speak... Now wouldn't that be nice.
My mom had the worst allergic shiners. One day we when we were walking through a dept store near the cosmetics counters one of the ladies jumped (literally) out at us and said "I can do something for those eyes" as we kept on walking and my mom turned around and the woman said "you know those bags really need some help" Needless to say we kept on walking but it was the first and last time we walked near the cosmetics counter in that store.

This is for Beth and mothers of teens. Think about a camouflage makeup for those "shiners." I have rosacea and have found some inexpensive brands that do wonders. Almay Time Off and their concealer pen are unnoticeable if you have the right shade. I think kids are really vulnerable in their teens and need this little bit of ego boosting. (I have a bunch of teen grandkids.) By the way, Almay Time Off has zinc which is very healing and kind to the skin. About all you can do with the shiners, which I also have, is learn to live with them and hide them. It's very easy.

Kids can be so unkind until they learn to understand another's problems and empathasize with them.

My young one who is not PA has allergic shiners but my older PA son only has the swollen, red, puffy bags under his eyes. Does this have to do with allergies also?