If you have ever experienced irritation while having a campfire, or in the Midst of a massive forest fire nearby. Odds are quite High you have gotten smoke in your eye. Smoke can cause many health issues, but one that is commonly experienced by many is a burning or stinging sensation in the eyes.
Smoke in the air can cause a plethora of different experiences for many, but when it comes to the eyes, smoke tends to irritate the majority of us. But why is this exactly? Why does smoke cause so much eye irritation, as well as a dry, burning, or stinging sensation???
Today we are going to go over the reasoning behind why smoke tends to provide so much discomfort too many.
Me personally, I experience the worst of the effects of smoke when I’m in the process of starting a campfire, or trying to bring it back to life. Typically in order to do either you are required to blow heavily (by mouth) on the Fire for a few moments, while carefully deciding when and where to add tinder.
This process of blowing on a fire requires one to get down very close to the base of a fire and blow by mouth in order to over oxygenate the fire, which essentially helps fuel it. By doing so you run a high risk of getting smoke and other debris in your eyes simply due to the fact that you are stirring up a lot of what is in the fire pit by blowing.
I personally have done this many times and gotten smoke in my eyes. The burning and stinging will sometimes hit you so hard it is as if someone sprayed cleaner in your eyes. This burning sensation gives one a natural desire to squeeze their eyes closed tightly, while periodical blinking very quickly.
If you have ever experienced the sensation you likely know how uncomfortable it is…
Not only are we going to discuss why it burns and stings so badly when Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, but also ways to go about relieving the discomfort as quickly as possible. Follow along with me below as we go over the reasoning behind why smoke irritates the eyes.
Why Smoke Causes Eye Irritation
Smoke is essentially made up of microscopic particles. These particles compare well to dust, as both dust and smoke act in the same sort of manner when they are seen floating in the air. Now, the major difference between the two are the elements to which each is made up of. As you likely know dust is made up of small paritcals of dry dirt.
Where as smoke is made up of the element that is fueling the fire. Which, can be anything that is combustible really. But whatever is fueling the fire at the moment is likely what is going to be in the smoke. Just a much smaller, and condensed amount of it.
Now, when you get smoke in your eyes it typically hurts in the same way it would if you got dirt in your eyes. Smoke hurts your eyes because the small micro particles found in smoke stick to the eye in the same manner dust would. But with smoke, depending on the condition of the particles, as well as the makeup. It will dry out the eye, causing irritation. Or burn the eye (To a degree), causing a Burning, and/or Sting sensation.
Now, Depending on distance the smoke has traveled from the point of fuel combusted to the point of landing in your eyes will give you a good assumption as to whether or not those smoke particles were still hot. If you feel a strong burning, and/or a stinging in your eyes then its likely you were too close to the fire and you got hot smoke particles in your eyes.
For most, this strong burning / stinging sensation in the eyes typically comes from blowing on a campfire in order to either revive the fire, or bring the campfire to life (Starting The Fire)
Otherwise, a mild burning or dry sinsation of the eyes is typically due to smoke particles getting in the eye at a distance from where the fuel combusted occured. This is typically experianced when sitting around a campfire and the wind direction changes sending the smoke directly into your direction (Typically ending with some smoke paricals in your eye).
Eye irritation can also occur due to an out of control wild fire that is burning near your location. But it’s important to keep in mind, we all react to thing differently. If you experience eye irritation for an extended period of time it is important that you consult an expert (eye doc.). Lets go over some of the effects of getting smoke in the eye.
How Does Smoke Affect Your Eyes
For the majority of us who accidentally expose our eyes to smoke on a mild level will likely not experience any long-term symptoms. However shortly after the eye gets exposed to smoke, the eye is likely to burn, and sting for a period of time after exposure. The amount of pain one experiences will typically correlate with the amount of exposure they had.
Most typically have a natural instinct to close her eyes tightly, and blink quickly in an effort to essentially wipe any debris off the eye, as well as re-moisturize the eye. Depending on the exposure level, you may feel as if there is a dirty film over your eye due to blurriness in the eye.
I believe this is the particles that have come from the smoke that have built up during exposure. Simply blinking rapidly will essentially wipe off the debris. However, this can leave the eye irritated for a period of time. Below are a few suggestions to help relieve this irritation, as well as the burning stinging sensations.
But beforehand lets go over some of the symptomes commonly felt by many when their eyes are exposed to smoke.
Symptoms Of Smoke Exposure In The Eye
The level of smoke irritation can vary significantly from person to person but some of the most common symptoms of smoke exposure of the eye are as follows:
- Dryness of the eye
- Gritty sensation inside the eye
- Burning sensation in the eye
- Stinging pain in the eye
- Debris buildup around the eye
- Redness of the eye
- Eye discharge / Tearing
What to do when smoke gets in your eyes
In most cases when smoke gets In Your Eyes it will dry out the eyes, as well as leave in the irritating / uncomfortable sensation in the eyes. In order to relieve this pain you can do it using a few different methods. Personally I just blink heavily for a short period of time.
However, the eye irritation doesn’t go away until 30 min too an hour later. Sometimes the irritation last even longer than that. But to be honest I am kinda lazy and I don’t typically carry along eye drops with me when i’m out in the backcountry. Nonetheless, I will likely begin doing so.
Your eyes are an extremely useful part of your ability to comprehend the world around you. For this reason it is extremely important that you alone with myself go about taking care of our eyes the next time they are exposed to smoke.
Think of it like dressing a wound.
Wipe The Eye/s With A Clean Damp Rag
By wiping your eyes with a moist, soft clean towel will help you to get any of the debris out of your eye which will later result in irritation reduction. You could also try laying a cool damp rag over your closed eyes for a period of time. This will help soothe the pain, and allow your eyes to return to a comfortable condition.
But be sure to use a clean, and soft rag. As a dirty, ridgid rag will just enhance the issue.
Use Eye Drops
When the eyes begin to feel dry it is because you have a minimal amount of fluid what is able to rehydrate basically. Many think rinsing out the eyes with water will take away the dryness. However, this is not the case, simply because the fluid in your eyes is made up of proteins and oils.
Those proteins and oils help to keep the eye moist and comfortable. The wonderful thing about modern technology is it humans have come up with a method for making artificial tears that come in a bottle. They are known as “Eye drops”. Eye drops can be a Wonder to have shortly after you have gotten smoke in your eye.
Hydrops will help lubricate, as well as rinse out the eye in order to bring it back to its comfortable state.
Best Eye Drops For Smoke Irritation
Some of the best eye drops for smoke irritation are made by Refresh Optive (On Amazon) and Systane Ultra (Listed On Amazon). The reviews from both are great and prove to work well for many. Check current pricing now!
Conclusion
In Final, the pain felt from smoke particles getting inside the eye can vary from person to person, as well as condition to condition. In most cases the Closer You Are to the fire When the Smoke Gets In Your Eye the more pain you will be in. Typically this is due to less dilution of the smoke, as well as the potential of the particles being hot when they enter your eye.
In most cases if you feel a slight burning, or dryness of the eye it is due to smoke contamination inside your eye at a moderate level, and after the smoke particles have cooled. If you feel a strong burning sensation, or stinging in the eye typically it is due to a large dose of smoke in the eye along with hot smoke particles.
In most cases simply time will relieve the symptoms experienced after your eyes have been exposed to smoke. But if you would like to speed up the process, I suggest you get yourself a bottle of eye drop fluid “artificial tears”.
I hope you were able to find some value here! If you have any further questions regarding campfires I strongly suggest you check out the Outdoor Luxuriez Making Fire: Everything Fire section of the website. There we go over our battle tested campfire Equipment we suggest others use. As well, we have an entire section dedicated to building, maintaining, and extinguishing campfire safely along with a multitude of other tips and techniques when it comes to campfires.
This Is Colt Signing Off!