Eye Problems Archives

Burning eye

I had bells-palsy about 10 years ago and it has left my right eye "open" more than the left eye(I do not blink as much with the right eye.)Only in my apartment do I notice the right eye burning. I do not smoke nor have any pets. Turning on the whole house air conditioner doesn't seem to help. The burning is most severe in the bathroom and when watching tv. I am not on any medication and I do not have any allergies that I am aware of. When I am in other indoor environments I have no trouble. My sense of smell is very accute and I notice any unusual smells. I do not have any plants or chemicals indoors, the carpeting has been here for 5 years, the furniture is a couple of years old and there isn't any new items in the house.
I live in Denver, CO which is a dry climate.
Do you think I have an allergy? Or possibly an indoor pollutant?
I appriciate any input you could suggest.
Thank-you, Rick.

Follow Ups:

• Re: Burning eye (Archive in eye.) Walt Stoll 07:09:25 1/06/03 (0)
• Re: Burning eye Happygal 23:33:11 1/05/03 (0)

In Reply to: Burning eye posted by Rick on January 05, 2003 at 00:34:41:

Hi Rick,

Have you tried a humidifier in your house? Denver really has dry air.

How about blinking more frequently?

My eyes burn like that occasionally and the eye dr. I asked about it said I wasn't blinking enough.

Best wishes,
Happygal

In Reply to: Burning eye posted by Rick on January 05, 2003 at 00:34:41:

Hi, Rick.

The obvious reason it is in just this eye is because you are not blinking often enough. A partial solution would be to get into the habit of using a finger to manually close the lid about every 5 minutes (or less) in addition to what blink reflex you still have. Once the habit is formed you will not even have to think about it.

In addition, I believe you must be developing a mild allergy (OR the humidity--listen to Happygal) that is combining with the blink reflex to cause this problem. The simplest thing you could do, that will also help your heating bill and prevent the respiratory problems of the winter, is get a whole house (apartment) humidifier. I will bet that your "whole house air conditioner" does not have an attached humidifier. See the home page about preventing colds. There is a whole chapter in my book about this.

Dealing with the allergy (if it is a part of this) would necessitate seeing a local Clinical Ecologist (Do not waste your time and money on an allergist.)

Let us know what you learn and how you do.

Walt