Why Are My Eyes Burning?

Reasons for Burning Eyes in the Winter

February is commonly the coldest month of the year. If you notice your eyes are burning, there could be several causes. 

In February, environmental factors commonly cause that burning sensation. Going outside with cold dry and windy air can easily deplete your tear film. If you have been indoors all day, running that heater all day also causes dry hot air to deplete your tear film as well. 

If you mostly notice burning eyes in the winter, you likely need light dry eye therapy on both layers of your tear film or you need management of capped meibomian glands. 

During the winter months, everyone will get capped or stagnated meibomian glands due to the cold weather. An easy fix is closing your eyes in the shower and letting the warm water beat down on your eyelids. 

Reasons for Burning Eyes in the Spring

If you get burning and watery eyes during the spring months, this is commonly eye allergies. If you have no history of getting eye allergies in the spring, it could be a combination of mild eye allergies, dry eyes and capped meibomian glands. 

Digital Causes

Also, if you feel burning eyes after looking at a digital device for several hours, it is likely you are not blinking enough. Every 20 minutes, try to do mindful blinking, where you blink extra hard a few times to get the meibom moving. If this is not helping, see your optometrist for a meibomian gland assessment. 

Over-the-Counter Therapies

For light dry eye therapy anything made by Allergan, the Refresh family, or Alcon, the systane daily is a safe bet. Extensive research goes into these two companies when they create the eyedrops. 

The worst offender to use is Visine. Visine has unwanted preservatives that do not interact well with our eye biology. If you are already using Refresh or Systane and still feel burning eyes, consult your eye doctor. 

In-Office Treatment

Whether in winter or spring, burning eyes could be due to many reasons. Always consult your eye doctor with these questions – especially if you notice symptoms getting worse or failing to improve. A quick office visit can create a monthly or several-month treatment plan to alleviate the symptoms you’re experiencing.