Key Takeaways
- Smoke, dust, dry air, sweat, and skincare products can leave your eyes burning and watery.
- Dry eye, blepharitis, and pink eye can each make your tears feel like they sting.
- A warm or cool compress and artificial tears can calm mild irritation at home.
- Burning that lasts more than a few weeks is worth a visit to a dry eye doctor in Surprise.
The Composition of Your Tears Is Important
Your tears do more than show up when you cry. They also coat the front of your eyes with a thin layer of moisture, wash away tiny specks of dust, and keep your vision clear when you blink. When something goes wrong with your tear film, discomfort and dry eye often result.
Your tears sting because their balance has shifted. This can often be due to an outside irritant that leaves the surface of your eye feeling raw.
If you’ve been experiencing tear-related discomfort, our team at West Valley Dry Eye can help.
What Tears Do
You actually make three kinds of tears. Basal tears keep your eyes moist all day. Reflex tears flood in when an irritant like an onion or a gust of wind bothers you. Emotional tears are related to your feelings.
Everyday Reasons Behind Stinging, Watering Eyes
Things Around You
The air around you plays a big role in your comfort. Smoke from a fire pit, dust floating through a dry room, or the air blasting from a car vent can all pull moisture away from eyes. Soap and household cleaners can have the same effect.
In these cases, it’s not your tears that are stinging, but the irritants that your eyes are exposed to.
Sweat & Skincare Products
Sweat carries a lot of salt, so if a drop gets into your eyes, it can sting.
Sunscreen, lotion, and makeup have similar effects. When they mix with your tears, they cause a stinging sensation. Fragrance and heavy oils tend to be the biggest offenders.
Health Conditions That Make Tears Burn
Dry Eye
Sometimes the problem isn’t outside your body. When you have dry eye, your tears evaporate faster than your eyes can replace them, so the surface of your eyes dries out between blinks. This is often quite uncomfortable.
If you have dry eye, you might notice a mix of symptoms, including:
- A stinging or burning feeling
- A scratchy sense that something is stuck in your eye
- Blurry vision that clears when you blink
Dry-eye related symptoms can be addressed with both at-home fixes as well as in-office therapies.
Blepharitis & Pink Eye
Blepharitis leaves the lids swollen and irritated, while pink eye causes redness, watering, crusting, and burning or itchy sensation. Both conditions can cause your eyes to sting.
How to Calm Stinging Eyes at Home
If you have dry eye, a warm compress can loosen clogged oil glands along your lids. A cool compress, on the other hand, can settle redness and swelling.
Artificial tears help deal with dryness. They add moisture and rinse away irritants on the surface of your eyes.
If soap, sunscreen, or dust are the culprit, flush your eye gently with clean water or saline until the stinging sensation eases. Most stinging fades once the irritant is cleared out.
When to See a Dry Eye Doctor in Surprise
Reach out if your symptoms hang on for more than a few weeks or keep returning after you’ve tried compresses and drops. If only one eye is bothering you, that’s also a reason to visit your eye doctor.
Our team at West Valley Dry Eye can pinpoint what’s behind your discomfort and build a treatment plan around your needs. Schedule a visit with a dry eye doctor in Surprise and start finding relief.