My eyes burn while driving: Doctor-medic Bányai informs about the causes

Several things can be responsible for burning eyes even on short car journeys. Sometimes these are short-term and not bad, but there can still be serious illnesses that should be clarified by a doctor.

Especially if your eyes burn after a car trip, frequent dry eyes are the cause. Also called Sicca syndrome in technical language.

What are the causes of burning eyes?

Burning eyes are not only annoying in everyday life, but also reduce the quality of life and can even become dangerous. The cause of the eye irritation should therefore be clarified in any case. For this, it is important to recognize whether the eyes are actually only burning or if further symptoms are occurring. Often these occur at the same time in the case of eye problems.

You should observe:

• whether your eyes shed more tears
• You have a feeling of pressure on your eyes
• it hurts
• You are more sensitive to light
• See them more blurred than usual
• the conjunctiva is red or swollen or 
• the eyelids are thicker than usual. (Swollen eyes)

Depending on this, the eyes are:

• only overloaded
• are sensitive to ambient air or cosmetics
• warn you about lack of sleep (do you have dark circles?) or
• have an allergic reaction. 

In these cases, a visit to the doctor is not absolutely necessary. If measures are taken to correct the above factors, one after the other and individually, so that you do not consciously perceive a possible improvement for the better, eye diseases are also conceivable. Then a visit to the doctor is unavoidable. In many cases, a cataract can be the cause of visual impairment in connection with driving.

How do I avoid eye stress?

Overexertion of the eyes can be caused by numerous activities. To minimize stress, the following things can help:

• Restrict use of digital devices (PC, smartphone, laptop, …)
• blink more often
• away from work, looking into the distance
• fresh air 
• use larger fonts when reading

If everything does not work or there is a worsening of the condition, the doctor should be consulted to actively look for diseases.

When should I see an ophthalmologist?

If the burning and other symptoms do not subside, but actually get worse and you cannot find a cause for it or even add further symptoms, consult a doctor. In some cases, there are diseases that can best be diagnosed by an expert and have a good chance of a cure if detected early.

Can “cataracts” be the cause?

Cataracts are an eye condition in which vision is clouded by a fog-like layer on the lens. This clouding is also called cataract. Since the lens is usually responsible for clear vision, this worsens with the increase in cataracts. The cataract symptoms are getting worse and worse and vision becomes more and more difficult without treatment.

The eyesight then decreases, because the concealment causes you to look through a fogged-up window. The disease can occur from different causes: often the reason is that you get older. In other cases, you have inherited it or it arises because you have other conditions such as diabetes or have to take certain medications such as cortisone.

The result of the obfuscation is the poor perception of colours, shapes and contrasts. The cloudiness also increases the sensitivity to light, which is increasingly noticeable in the dark, especially in road traffic. The light from oncoming cars is perceived as very disturbing and unpleasant.

Due to the decreasing eyesight, the person automatically strains when seeing, so that the eye is overloaded and can lead to burning eyes when exposed to increased light. Therefore, the ophthalmologist should clarify whether such an eye disease is present.

Laser eye treatment can remove cataracts

One way to treat cataracts is to laser the eye. This is done in an operation that has only minimal complications. The laser light opens the lens capsule, for example, and crushes the body’s own lens without a manual cut.

After that, a new artificial lens is used instead of the old endogenous lens. Of course, always under local anesthesia. The procedure itself only takes a few minutes. After the procedure, the patient can see better again after a short time.

In our specialised eye laser centres in Karlsruhe and Stuttgart, we carry out this treatment using state-of-the-art technology and extensive experience. We will advise you in detail about the various options and guide you step by step on the way to better vision.