Tear Burns: Why Do My Eyes Burn When I Cry?

If your eyes burn every time you tear up, you could be dealing with allergies — but that’s not always the case. Burning tears can also be a sign that you have an underlying eye condition or that other irritants are at work.

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Optometrist Weston Tuten, OD, explains the reasons your tears cause a burning feeling and how to stop them, without rubbing your eyes.

Why do my tears burn my eyes?

Tears lubricate your eyes and protect them from infection and other outside irritants like dirt or sand. They can also be a direct result of experiencing emotions.

But tears can sometimes burn if you’re dealing with any of the following.

Environmental factors

Smoke, dust, sand and other environmental or external irritants (like soap) can cause your eyes to quickly increase their tear production. Your body produces these “reflex tears” to flush out these irritants, so they’re packed with antibodies and more salt than other types of tears. It’s this salt that causes your eyes to burn. But once the irritants are removed, your eyes tend to stop burning and return to normal.

Allergies

Allergic reactions to pollen, dust and other irritants that spike during specific seasons can cause your eyes to burn and itch. As a result, you can end up with near-consistent reflex tears until you find relief by either limiting your exposure to irritants or using allergy eye drops.

Dry eyes

When you have dry eyes, the tear film that keeps your eyes moist becomes ineffective. This happens because your tears evaporate too quickly or your lacrimal glands may not be functioning properly, causing reduced tear production. As a result, you get a stinging, burning sensation in your eyes.

“This is a signal for your brain to send more tears, but it can only send more watery tears,” explains Dr. Tuten. When you’re caught up in a chronic crying loop, every tear burns.

Sweat

Sweat is made up of 99% water and 1% salt and other minerals. If you sweat — whether from exercise or hot weather — and it gets into your eyes, the salt can burn your eyes along with any other irritants that get pulled in with it.

Other underlying conditions

Eye conditions that cause inflammation can lead to burning tears, too. A common one is blepharitis, or inflammation of your eyelids. It can result from an infection or when oil glands become clogged (so you’re more likely to get blepharitis if you have naturally oily skin).

Pink eye (conjunctivitis) can also cause burning tears and inflammation because of infections, allergens and other irritants or eye injuries.

How to find relief

Treatment for burning tears depends on what causes it. For immediate relief, you can use:

Warm or cold compresses
Artificial tears for dry eyes, blepharitis and conjunctivitis
Allergy eye drops for allergic reactions

If it’s been a few weeks and compresses or eye drops aren’t helping, it’s time to see an eye doctor.

“If you have a blocked tear duct, you want to see a specialist to have your tear system examined,” states Dr. Tuten. “Other inflammatory problems or rheumatologic issues require stronger, prescription-strength eye drops to help combat burning tears.”