By Shammi Mondal

It’s a breezy summer day. Clear blue skies, everything looks bright outside, but the moment you start enjoying the outdoors your eyes feel a sudden sting, naturally you rub your eyes to ease the pain only to make things worse. You realise that that the sunscreen you wore has gone into your eyes and now keeping your eyes open has become a challenge.

Sunscreens stinging your eye can hold a special fright, so we spoke to Dr Geetika Mittal Gupta, an aesthetic physician to help us tackle this situation with her expert solutions.

Do we really need to apply a sunblock around our eyes?

“The skin around our eyes is thinner in comparison to the skin on the rest of our body which makes it vulnerable and more susceptible to sun damage, exactly why wearing sunblock around your eyes is a must” says Dr Geetika Mittal. The first signs of ageing appear around your eyes and wearing a sunscreen could efficiently tackle premature skin ageing.

Why do sunscreens sting or water the eyes?

“Those teary, irritated eyes, speaking from personal experience, can truly ruin a day. Although most of the sunscreens available are to apply around your eye area, but a chemical sunscreen has many active components that can irritate the delicate skin around your eyes,” says Dr Geetika.

Ingredients like avobenzone and oxybenzone found in chemical sunscreens are the main suspects in. making your eyes watery.

Here are some easy ways to remedy this problem

Look out for a mineral sunscreen

“Mineral sunscreens, in my opinion, are healthier for the skin than chemical sunscreens, particularly if you have acne or other skin problems,” says Dr Geetika.

Mineral compositions include zinc or titanium dioxide as their main ingredients and are a wonderful choice because they are gentle on the skin and won't irritate your eyes even when you sweat.

“I generally suggest 2-3 finger sunblock application for the face, make sure you apply it 15 mins before heading out,” recommends Dr Geetika.

Sunscreen Stinging Your Eye?