Eye wash

Monday, May 7, 2007

Every night, when stretching out for bed, I inevitably end up rubbing my eyes red. There's been this faint irritation in my right eye the last few days. I suspect it's nothing more severe than exposure to road pollution, but surely there's something I can put in my eyes instead of rubbing them?

A dish of plain water? Or something less plain?

notanangel78 — May 7, 2007 11:44:38 PM — # ↩

Cover your eyes with cotton soaked in warm water. It feels good and it will clear your eyes.
- anikowugaj — Jul 11, 2008 1:42:56 PM — # ↩
  
  Cover your eyes with cotton soaked in luke warm milk for 15 minutes everyday to remove the dark circles around your eyes or dip cotton pads into freshly extracted mint juice, flatten them and place them on closed eyelids for 10 to 15 minutes.
joshmachine — May 7, 2007 11:57:17 PM — # ↩

slice of cucumber
insomnia — May 8, 2007 3:48:00 AM — # ↩

While cucumbers, soaked cotton, etc. might feel good or relaxing on top of your eyes, and may even help reduce your eye's exposure to whatever irritant is out there, they do nothing to rinse pollutions or particulate out of it.

Rinsing your eye is a good idea, but the best way to rinse your eyes isn't with plain water, because it can actually irritate your eyes. Water is less saline and has a different pH level than your eyes, so it tends to try to equalize things. But your eyes are slightly salty and have a different pH for a reason, and its not good to change that.

What is usually recommended is a sterile, buffered, saline solution balanced to the pH and salinity of human tears, similar to contact lens solution. Eye cups are the best way to use eye rinses. Oftentimes, eye rinses come with very simple plastic eye cups, which work well enough, if not being perfect.

That said, it's recommended to not share eye cups between eyes, as that is a good way to spread pink eye or allergens. If you do, you should at least wash the eye cup in hot water first. Cool it off before using it, though!

I have eye problems related to allergies and pollution that cause similar issues, and use prescription eye drops in addition to regular rinsing. It can get expensive, but it's a lot better for your eyes than rubbing and irritating them, which can actually scratch or damage the eye in extreme cases.

I also use special pillow covers designed to reduce allergens, dust mites, etc. and wash my bedding regularly.
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — May 8, 2007 10:45:35 AM — # ↩
  
  Thanks. That is helpful. Would a dish of mildly saline (table salt) water be an adequate substitute?
  - mike_higher — May 8, 2007 11:18:53 AM — # ↩
    
    That wouldn't be a great idea as it is not likely to be sterile. Instead of the tear-gland stimulating eye drops, try the more viscous eye drops. I had LASIK done on my eyes and have dry eyes frequently and keep a bottle of lubrex handy..
  - tsk1979 — May 8, 2007 1:31:50 PM — # ↩
    
    Get "Eye cool" or other similarly branded eye drops. Works great.
    In the day invest in a pair of good sun glasses.
    By good I mean wrap around, not the tiny fancy stuff.
    Fast Track has nice range. Polaroid wraparound ones cost around 1100rs from Fastrack, and normal wraparounds start from 800.
    - Kiran Jonnalagadda — May 8, 2007 3:37:44 PM — # ↩
      
      But sunglasses don't fit very well on top of regular glasses, and besides, make one look like a wannabe smart-ass.
      - tsk1979 — May 8, 2007 4:45:59 PM — # ↩
        
        Then get the huge thing with rubber lining and rubber strap. Its better to look like a wannabe smart-ass than be a red-eyed not-so-smart-ass :D
        
        Kiran Jonnalagadda — May 11, 2007 2:19:33 PM — # ↩
        
        tsk1979 — May 11, 2007 2:23:46 PM — # ↩
        
        Priceless .....:D
  - insomnia — May 8, 2007 3:35:07 PM — # ↩
    
    Looking at my eye wash, I see it contains purified water, boric acid, sodium borate, and sodium chloride, preserved with edetate disodium (.025%) and sorbic acid (.1%). That's a bit different than just salt water.
    
    Using a mild saline solution would certainly be less expensive, but it might also cause irritation and could be more prone to bacteria, etc. It also wouldn't keep as well.
    
    Doing a bit of searching showed me that boric acid is and has been used medicinally for eye rinsing and disinfecting for quite awhile. The ratio I found online was 1/4 tsp. boric acid powder to 2 cups water, dissolved and boiled. I also found a recipe for a saline solution to rinse your eyes.
    
    In either case, I would strongly recommend taking every possible precaution to increase the sterility of the fluid. If things aren't sterile, it could potentially lead to infections under some circumstances.
    
    If I were making it for myself, I would recommend using distilled water, and storing the mixture in a sterile, opaque plastic bottle, with a cap that can be closed after each use. A small squeeze bottle would work well. I would stir the mixture slightly before each use, and would consider heating or microwaving it occasionally, just to make sure that nothing is growing in the solution. In any event, I wouldn't keep the solution around for more than a week.
    
    You don't really need a lot to rinse each eye. Usually just enough to fill the eye cup about halfway. You could also use an eyedrop if that is more available, but I prefer eyecups.
    - lawgon — May 8, 2007 5:08:19 PM — # ↩
      
      after reading all this my eyes have started itching
deponti — May 8, 2007 10:31:48 AM — # ↩

insomnia said it all.Also, keep a small bottle of Visine handy. If the irritation persists, you should see a doctor, you know.
deelight — May 8, 2007 10:38:19 AM — # ↩

Use GenTeal Eye Drops. You may have dry eyes and that could be the irritation. I get it occasionally and this is good. It's an eye lubricant.
ramprasad — May 8, 2007 10:40:25 AM — # ↩

Cry! Tears are the best
mike_higher — May 8, 2007 11:15:48 AM — # ↩

Try 'Lubrex' eye drops.. works for me :)
sweta_mogra — May 8, 2007 11:40:40 AM — # ↩

Use an eye-lubricant name="Tear drops"
Simple and effective.
irq2 — May 8, 2007 11:46:36 PM — # ↩

Try putting cotton dipped in rose water over your eyes before going to sleep. Did wonders for me.
Anonymous — May 9, 2007 7:49:22 PM — # ↩

Leave this polluted hellhole and cross over to greener (thereby less polluted..!?) pastures...
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