Why Do My Eyes Hurt When I Wake Up? 10 Common Causes

You wake up with a throbbing, burning or pin-pricking sensation in your eyes. Maybe you have a headache, too, or it could even be hard to see at first. If you wake up with eye pain, how concerned should you be?

Reasons why your eyes might hurt in the morning

There are several reasons why you might wake up with eye pain in the morning. Factors that can help narrow down the cause include:

• The type of pain: It may feel like a burning, stinging sensation or a sharp, subtle pain.
• How suddenly it occurred: Eye pain can strike out of the blue or happen regularly.
• Other symptoms: Morning eye pain is often associated with redness, too.

Optometrist Wes Immler, OD, shares some of the most common causes for waking up with eye pain and which symptoms are most troubling.

Dry eyes

Dr. Immler says that dry eyes is the most common cause of eye pain in the morning, and it feels like a burning, gritty or sandy sensation. The reason? Dryness is more common at night, which causes you to wake up with eye pain and discomfort.

“There are many causes of dry eye, including lower humidity and dry air in the winter,” he continues. “If you sleep with a ceiling fan on, that can also lead to tear evaporation or dryness and eye pain in the morning.”

Allergies

Allergies can cause eye pain all year long. The tissues around your eye can swell when you come into contact with allergens, like dust and pollen, leading to pain and discomfort.

“Allergies are a common cause of eye pain, especially if you’re allergic to anything in the house like dust mites or pet dander,” says Dr. Immler. “And if you’re allergic to outdoor allergens, like ragweed, it’s best to wash your face — including around your eyes — before you go to sleep. Otherwise, if you fall asleep with allergens on your skin, you may wake up with irritated eyes.”

Eye strain

When you spend a lot of time in front of a screen — like your computer, phone or a tablet — you tend to blink your eyes less. That leads to more eye strain, causing your eyes to dry out faster with pain and discomfort.

“If you’re someone who watches TV before bed and you’re dealing with eye strain all day, that can lead to consistent eye pain, even in the morning,” says Dr. Immler.

Pink eye (conjunctivitis)

Pink eye can be viral, bacterial or allergic — and all three types can lead to eye pain and redness. Eye pain is sometimes the result of inflammation in your conjunctiva, the clear covering that protects the white part of your eye and lines the inside of your eyelids.

Blepharitis

With blepharitis, your eyelids themselves become inflamed and swollen because of clogged oil glands, a skin condition or infection.

“With blepharitis, you get crusting or debris that builds up in your eyelashes and blocks your oil glands,” explains Dr. Immler. “This leads to burning eye pain, discomfort and redness.”

Nocturnal lagophthalmos

Nocturnal lagophthalmos is a condition where you sleep with one or both eyes open, often caused by nerve or eyelid damage. When your eyes aren’t protected, your tears evaporate overnight. And that leads to eye pain in the morning.

“When you’re sleeping and your eyes aren’t completely closed, your cornea is exposed all night,” explains Dr. Immler. “It can lead to things like corneal abrasions. And the pain you feel can be more severe. It often feels like you have something in your eye.”

Recurrent cornea erosion

Recurrent cornea erosion can happen after an eye injury if your cornea doesn’t heal as well as it should. As they’re healing, surface cells sometimes don’t firmly attach to the cornea.

“When you’re sleeping, your eyelid can sometimes interact with those newly healed cells and stick to the surface of your eye,” says Dr. Immler. “When you wake up, your eyelid can pull off some of those cells and recreate the corneal abrasion, so it feels like you’ve scratched your eye or you have more significant pain.”

Contact lens wear

You can experience eye pain in the morning if you fall asleep while wearing contacts.

“When you sleep while wearing contacts, you don’t get as much oxygen on the surface of your eye, so your eyes can become red and uncomfortable when you wake up,” explains Dr. Immler. “Sleeping with lenses can also lead to eye infections, which can sometimes be quite serious and very painful.”

Contacts can also contribute to eye pain when you wake up if you:

• Don’t clean them.
• Don’t replace them regularly or as prescribed.
• Wear them beyond their expiration date.

Eye infections

Eye infections can cause pain in the morning because of heightened inflammation from your body’s immune system response to the infection. Plus, eye infections are a leading cause of corneal ulcers, a type of open sore on your cornea. If they’re not treated, they lead to scarring, light sensitivity and vision loss.

Dirty air and other causes

You might experience eye pain in the morning if you’re exposed to:

• Cigarette smoke
• Wildfires
• Car exhaust
• Gases and other hazardous chemicals

“If you don’t wash your face before bed, you can carry these particles with you, where they can stick to clothing, bed sheets and pillows,” warns Dr. Immler. “That can irritate your eyes and eyelids.”

When to call a doctor

Different causes require different treatments — and that’s why you should call a healthcare provider if you experience any new or serious symptoms, like:

• Severe, persistent pain that lasts all day or for multiple days
• Eye discharge
• Blurred vision, vision loss and other vision changes
• Increased light sensitivity
• Body-wide symptoms, like fever, headache, nausea or vomiting

“If you’re having symptoms that affect other areas of your body, you should be seen right away, especially if you’re having changes in your vision,” states Dr. Immler. “The longer vision changes go untreated, the higher your risk of permanent eye damage.”