You rub your left eye. Five minutes later, you rub it again. Pretty soon, you are pawing your peeper like a mutt with an itch he can't reach. A look in the mirror reveals that the white of your eye has turned a flamboyant scarlet. What gives? Almost anything, unfortunately. Your eyes can be irritated by foreign matter, from a speck of dust to an errant fleck of mascara. They may itch or burn, irritated by allergies, dirty contact lenses, or too many hours spent unblinking in front of your computer. Maybe you got soaked in the eye with a tennis ball or lightly thwacked with your niece's or nephew's plastic Power Ranger. Or, for one reason or another, your eyes may not produce enough tears, leading to the stinging burning, and grittiness of dry eye.
You may even have developed conjunctivitis also called pinkeye, a bacterial or viral infection of the membrane that lines the eyelid and covers the eyeball. Or maybe you have a sty, an infection of one of the oil glands in the eyelid. Other possible causes of eye pain include blepharitis, which is an infection of the eyelids, and inflammation caused by allergy. Either of these can turn your baby blues or browns into red, tender puffs. Here are some tips that you can consider to adopt for pain-relief.
1. Put The Pain On Ice
If you get socked in the eye it is recommended immediately applying an ice pack to your eye for 15 minutes. Cold can reduce the pain and swelling.
2. Make Yourself Cry
To combat dry eye, bathe your eyes with artificial tears. These products mimic real tears. They are available at most drugstores.
3. Compress It
The first symptoms of a sty are teariness, sensitivity to light, and the feeling that something is in your eye. Then the lid reddens, swells and hurts. A sty is a low-grade infection of the eyelid. For quick relief, place a washcloth soaked in warm water over the sty for 15 minutes every 2 hours. The compress will liquefy the oils and allow them to drain. This treatment will cure most sties. Do not rub your eye and do not wear eye makeup.
4. Irritate Your Eye
To dislodge any speck of dust or grit, wash out your eye with saline solution, preferably one without preservatives. Do not use tap water, distilled water, or eyedrops unless you have splashed your eye with a caustic chemical and there is nothing else available.
5. Dab Away The Invader
If the fleck or speck is on the white part of your eye, it is recommended to try to dislodge it gently with a damp cotton swab.
6. Give Dry Eyes The Cold Treatment
To ease dry eyes, apply a bag of crushed ice or ice cubes to the affected eye for 5 minutes every 2 hours. Or use a cold egg right out of the refrigerator. Just take the whole egg with the shell intact and gently press it against your sore eye.
7. Flip Your Lid
Another way to dislodge a painful particle is to pull your upper lid down over the lower lid. Pulling down your lid will allow the foreign body to wipe off on the skin of the lower lid so you can dislodge it.
