Signs That Your Eyes Have Been Overexposed to the Sun

Your skin is not the only part of your body that can get sunburned. Overexposure to the sun, particularly its UV rays, can damage your eyes too. This eye condition is called photokeratitis or ultraviolet keratitis.

Your trusted eye exam doctor at Lumen Optometric lists the symptoms of photokeratitis and what you can do to treat your sunburned eyes.

Symptoms of Sunburned Eyes

It can be hard to tell when your eyes are already being overexposed to the sun. But if your eyes hurt whenever you look at an area near the sun, it’s usually an indication that your eyes have been overexposed to UV rays. Apart from this, you may also experience the following symptoms:

• eye pain
• light sensitivity
• blurry vision
• redness or discomfort in the eyes
• seeing halos
• eyelid twitching
• headache
• gritty feeling in the eyes
• temporary loss of vision

These symptoms can last for one or two days. But if you already have them for more than 48 hours or you experience loss of vision that does not get better in a few hours, you should call your eye doctor to make sure everything is fine.

How to Treat Sunburned Eyes

Photokeratitis usually resolves on its own within a couple of days, so its treatment is mainly focused on reducing discomfort from the symptoms. During this time, make sure to rest your eyes and remove your contact lenses. This will help your eyes heal more quickly. You can also ask your doctor if they will recommend pain relievers or antibiotic eye drops.

Below are some other at-home remedies that you can try:

• Close your eyes and place cool compress over them.
• Don’t rub your eyes as this will only cause further irritation.
• Lubricate your eyes with artificial tears. But make sure to ask your doctor if it’s OK.
• If you are wearing eyelash extensions, ask your doctor if you should have them removed or not.

Lumen Optometric offers an array of eye care services including eye exams, corneal reshaping, dry eye treatment and more. We ensure excellent patient care so that you can be comfortable during your appointment with us. Rest assured that our team will do their best to help with your eye care needs. Call us at (626) 921-0199 or fill out our contact form to schedule an appointment.