Eye Irritation

Symptoms

Acute nonspecific eye irritation manifests itself in symptoms such as foreign body sensation, eye tearing, redness, burning, and swelling.

Causes

Possible causes include external irritants and eye strain:

  • Smoke, dust, heat, cold, wind, dry air, air conditioning, chlorinated water.
  • Sunlight, UV rays see also under snow blindness.
  • Wearing contact lenses
  • Chemicals, medicines, for example, eye drops.
  • Eyelashes, malposition of the eyelids
  • Incorrectly corrected glasses
  • Tear deficiency see under dry eyes
  • Overexertion, e.g. lack of sleep, night work, VDU work, driving, artificial light.

Diagnosis

The workup must exclude other and complicated causes, such as infectious conjunctivitis.

Nonpharmacologic treatment

  • Take care of the eyes and do not expose them further to the stimuli
  • Cool with pads for a short time
  • Insert breaks
  • Take an eye bath
  • Close eyes
  • Bed rest in a darkened room

Drug treatment

Tear substitutes:

  • Moisturize, cool, and nourish the eyes and soothe irritation. They can be administered several times a day and have few adverse effects. At night, eye ointments or gels can be applied if necessary. Preparations without preservatives should be used preferably, because preservatives can cause side effects on the eye.

Eyebright eye drops:

  • Are used in alternative medicine and have a similar effect to artificial tears. They can be administered several times a day.

Sympathomimetics:

  • Such as tetryzoline contract the blood vessels and take the red out of the eyes. They act against the symptoms, but can dry out the eye and lead to reactive hyperemia in the longer term. Therefore, they should be used with restraint and in the short term.

Other eye drops: