What Causes Red Eye?
You wake up and your eyes hurt. They burn or itch and you just want tp rub them- but wait! Rubbing makes it worse. Wash your hands, then flush your eye with clean water to easy the discomfort. Taking a small dixie cup is a good way to do it. After you get a good rinse, you can use quality eye drops to help re-lubricate your eye with its more natural like tears. The water will help to rinse any foreign objects like dust, an eyelash, or makeup from your eyes. The eye drops give the eyes the saline needed to help heal.
Often the cause of red eye or bloodshot eyes can be something minor like dust or makeup. At one point or another, everyone experiences something getting in their eyes and having irritation. Sleeping with an overhead fan on can also dry out your eyes. When they dry out, you tend to rub them more too, which if you do this while sleeping, you can wake up with irritation and redness. If our self care above doesn’t clear up your eye in an hour or two and no improvement is visible, you should call to get an appointment to be seen to make sure it is nothing more serious.
What could cause red eye?
Makeup
Dust
Allergies
Pollen
Rouge Eyelash
Dirty or Old Contacts
Saltwater or Sunshine over exposure
Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis)
Infections
Trauma or Injury
Glaucoma, Ulcers, or Uveitis
As you can see, some of these things are more serious than others, and of course, there are other things like smoking that could cause red or bloodshot eyes as well. Your eyes are independent of one another when it comes to conditions and health, which is why generally, if both of your eyes are red, it is probably due to something like allergies. It is possible to have rubbed your one eye then touched the other and spread something like Pink Eye to both eyes.
Makeup can be a big culprit. We always recommend that you wash your eye makeup particularly each and every night. In addition, it is important to toss your makeup once it has reached its useful shelf life. Liquid eyeliner and mascara are two often over extended products that are very important to toss after their 3-4 month life cycle after opening. These liquid or gel like products are especially susceptible to growing bacteria in their dark tubes. Powder eyeshadow can be used longer 12-24 months, if stored at room temperature (and not somewhere hot like your car!) It should be noted, that makeup expiration is X months after opening- which is unlike food expiration which has a set date.
In the meantime, we also highly recommend switching to your glasses rather than putting your contacts in. This is why you always want a pair of glasses on hand for those just-in-case moments! If you are not a contact lens wearer, then just keep those hands away from your eyes!
When in doubt, or longer lasting, always have your doctor take a look to make sure there is nothing more serious going on. It is also possible to get better eye drops than the over the counter ones you might find at Publix or Target. Feel free to contact us today to have our doctors take a look for you! We would be more than happy to help.
