Why is my eye stinging?

One of the most common things I hear from my patients in the office is that they have bouts of stinging of the eye. Usually it is just one eye, but sometimes it is both eyes. Often, it has never happened before. Even more frustratingly, it often does not happen at the time they come to the office. Overwhelmingly, the reason for stinging of the eye ends up being dryness of the surface. In order to have proper vision and comfort, the tear film of the eye needs to be adequate. The tear film is constantly being turned over, with new tears being produced and old tears draining off of the surface of the eye (or evaporating). When the balance of tear production and tear loss starts to tilt toward tear loss, the surface doesn’t go completely dry immediately. Since it is a dynamic process, usually there are periods of dryness, which is why patients might start with episodic symptoms of stinging. Unfortunately, symptoms start after a long period of the balance tilting toward tear loss, so symptoms can’t be cured immediately in many cases. However, if patients are diligent about treating their dry eye with things like artificial tears and warm compresses on a daily regimented basis, the symptoms can turn around after a few weeks or months.