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The tears that coat the surface of your eyes have both a liquid and a mucous layer to them. It is normal to have a small amount of mucus in your tear film. But that mucus can significantly increase when the eye gets irritated.
Some of the most common causes of irritation that can make the eye overproduce mucus are:
- Conjunctivitis, which could be caused by an allergy, bacteria, or virus
- Blepharitis, which is an inflammation of the eyelids
- Dry Eye Syndrome
When any of these conditions occur, the eye will begin to make more mucus.
Sometimes the mucous production really is excessive and there is a temptation to keep pulling it out with either your fingers or a cotton swab. DON'T DO THIS--it will just lead to recurring irritation and problems.
Any mucus that gets deposited OUTSIDE the eye on the outer eyelid or on the lashes is fair game for removal. In fact, anything on the exterior of the eyelid or stuck to the eyelashes should be cleaned off. Just don’t reach INSIDE the eyelids.
Every time you go inside the eye to remove mucus, your finger or a cotton swab further irritates the eye and causes it to make even more mucus and you end up with the vicious cycle that we call mucus fishing syndrome.
If you have an acute problem that is causing excessive mucus, you need to try and get the underlying problems treated and under control. That means treating the allergy, blepharitis, infectious conjunctivitis,
As an eye doctor, diagnosing a red eye can be challenging. Are we dealing with an infection, allergy, inflammation, or dryness?
A common question we get is, “Doc, my eyes are red, burning, itchy, and tearing. Is this dry eye or from allergies?” The short answer is it could be one, both, or neither. We'll outline various ways these conditions present clinically and the treatments for them.
The hallmark symptom of allergy – meaning if you have this symptom you almost definitely have the condition – is itching. Red, watery, ITCHY eyes are almost invariably due to an allergen, whether environmental or medicinal. It is one of the most common ocular conditions that we, as eye doctors, treat -- especially when plants are filling the air with pollen as they bloom in the Spring and then die off in the Fall.
The itching occurs because an immune cell called a mast cell releases histamine, causing the itching sensation. It can be quite unbearable for the sufferer, causing them to rub their eyes constantly, which actually increases the amount of histamine in the eye, leading to worsening of the symptoms.
Treatments may include:
- Over-the-counter or prescription allergy drops (mostly anti-histamines or mast cell stabilizers).
- Topical steroids (to get the inflammation under control).
- Cool compresses applied to the eye.
Patients sometimes need to take drops every day to keep their symptoms under control.
Dry eye can have many of the same symptoms as allergic eye disease, with the eye being red and possibly
Read more: Are You Dealing with Allergies, Dry Eyes, or Something Else?
