Itchy Eyes and Their Causes

 

 It would be quite puzzling when, suddenly in the middle of an activity, a person feels itchy eyes. Though more often than not the itchy part is rubbed and the sensation is then ignored, it is somewhat mysterious because it does not show any prior signs or symptoms. At the outset, even its underlying causes are usually hard to determine. An itching in the eye could widely range in intensity, frequency, malignancy and causes. The sensation could be sudden yet very intense that one would scratch it very hard, or very feeble yet persistent that could only be noticed after some time. Also, itchy eyes could be as harmless as a speck that went through the eye balls, or as a little dangerous as a xeropthalmia. But despite the primary uncertainties of the sensation, only thing is sure; it’s that an itching in the eye is not a pleasant experience

Having Itchy Eyes – What does it mean?

Having itchy eyes is, obviously, the feeling of itchiness on the skin near the eyes, on the eyelids or on the eyeballs. This is a very common sensory experience, and all people at some point have had felt a sudden or persistent itching in the eyes. And like all the itchiness in other parts of the body, this feeling causes a person to rub and scratch the itchy part of the skin (called a reflex), to remove the sensation away. Sudden itchiness are usually harmless, while the persistent ones are very annoying. The following are some of the common causes of the itchiness in the eyes, and some tips on how to soothe the sensation away.

Acute Itchy Eyes:

Acute itchy eyes are usually caused by some minuscule foreign object that inadvertently enter the eyes, such as a speck of dust or a small dirt particle. These objects irritate the sensitive surfaces of the eyelids and eyeballs, and thus the intense itchy sensation. In such cases, one should not rub the eyes, as it would increase the irritation and the foreign object could even go further inside the eyes. Instead, one should wipe the eyes with cool water, or continuously blink under running water. In this way the irritation would soothe away and not lead to other eye-related problems instead.

Itchy Eyes Causes:

One of the most common causes of itchy eyes, so common that almost all people have experienced it at some point, is the conjunctivitis. Colloquially called as sore eyes, pink eye and madras eyes, it is the inflammation of the outer surface of eye’s skin and the inner layer of the eyelids (called the conjunctiva). It could be caused by many factors, such as an allergy, a bacteria, a virus or a chemical irritant; and these factors affect the other characteristics pertinent to conjunctivitis. It could either include swelling in the eyeballs and production of tears and pus. Only one thing is sure though: it’s that conjunctivitis also results in some itchiness in the eyes. When experiencing this kind of itchy eyes, it would be best remedied if a medical attention is immediately sought.