Why Do My Eyes Burn?

The feeling of burning in your eyes is usually due to a minor irritation on the surface of the eye that can quickly go away once you blink and tears coat the surface of the eye. If burning persists for more than a few hours, this may indicate a severe problem such as dry eye disease, blepharitis, conjunctivitis (“pink eye”) or allergies. The only way to treat persistent burning eyes is to see your eye care physician to determine the root cause of the symptoms.

Dry Eye Disease (DED) is a very common cause of persistent burning sensation of the eyes. People with dry eyes produce poor quality tears, not enough tears, or both. This can lead to chronic inflammation on the surface of the eye which produces a burning or stinging sensation. This is similar to cracked, dry skin which can burn and feel painful. The best way to treat DED initially is to consider using over the counter lubricant eye drops like:

• Optase

• Refresh

• Systane

• Soothe

• Blink

Avoid any eye drops with a redness reliever or allergy component like Visine, Similasan or Naphcon A as these can be more irritating to the surface of the eye.