What to do if you get sunscreen in your eyes

Many of us have been in a situation where you are outdoors at the pool, beach, or doing another activity and you put sunscreen on your face. This is a smart thing to be doing anytime you plan on being outside for more than just a couple minutes. Unfortunately it is pretty easy to accidentally get sunscreen in your eyes, either by using spray on sunscreen or rubbing in sunscreen lotion too close to your eye. The instant this happens you may feel pain, irritation, and/or feel like you are unable to open your eyes. 

The best thing to do when this happens is to immediately flush your eyes with running water, if you wear contact lenses remove them before beginning to flush. Doing this will help get the sunscreen out of your eye, but it may not stop the irritation right away. Using eye drops to flush out your eyes may help get the sunscreen out, but it can also cause some more burning. After flushing your eyes the irritation should lessen, and you should be able to open your eyes. The sunscreen will not leave any permanent damage to your eye. Contact may make your eyes feel uncomfortable and it may help to not wear them for around 48 hours to let your eyes rest. It is normal for your vision to still be blurry the day of, but if you are still experiencing discomfort the day after see your Provo Eye Doctor. 

There are a couple of things that you can do to avoid getting any sunscreen in your eyes. First, never spray sunscreen directly on your face, instead spray it into your hands then apply it with your hands. Wearing UV sunglasses and a hat can let you avoid putting sunscreen on your face all together.