Those who have unfortunately gotten sunscreen in their eyes are aware just how painful it can be. A real strong spray in the eye can often cause burning that lasts for hours. It can take hours until the victim can feel comfortable enough to open his eyes, especially outside in the bright sun.
Needless to say rubbing sunblock in your eyes is likely to cause a quick stop to a day by the pool instantly. Though it is likely that stinging will remain for a while, it is important to treat it as soon as possible.
The best treatment is immediately flushing the eye out with running water for a while. This should flush the lotion out of the eye yet it probably won't ease the irritation for a while. While it won't help to remove the sunscreen, applying cool, wet cloths to the eyes may have a soothing effect. Applying eye drops such as ClearEyes may assist in cleaning out the eye, but it is likely they will cause burning.
Even after the eyes have been flushed, it is normal for vision to be somewhat blurry. If pain continues after a significant amount of time call your optometrist.
Prevention
- Do not spray sunscreen directly on the face.
- Don't let little children put on sunscreen themselves.
- Keep lotion out of reach of children.
- Rub sunblock in completely.
- Do not apply sunscreen too close to the eyes.
- Wear large sunglasses to protect the eyes and the surrounding areas from UV rays.
