Sleeping with a scratched eye is uncomfortable, but a few adjustments to your position, pain management, and eye protection can make the night far more bearable. Most minor corneal abrasions heal within 24 to 48 hours, so you may only need to get through one or two rough nights before the worst is over.
Why a Scratched Eye Hurts More at Night
During the day, blinking keeps a thin layer of tears flowing over your cornea, which provides some cushioning and helps flush the wound. When you sleep, that stops. Your eyelid rests directly against the scratch for hours, and your eye dries out. This is why many people notice the pain spikes right as they try to fall asleep or flares up the moment they open their eyes in the morning, sometimes feeling like the wound has reopened.
Light sensitivity also plays a role. Even dim light from a phone screen or hallway can trigger sharp pain in a scratched eye, making it harder to wind down.
Sleep on Your Back or Opposite Side
The simplest change you can make is avoiding pressure on the injured eye. Sleeping face-down or on the same side as your scratch pushes your eyeball into the pillow, increasing pain and potentially slowing healing. Sleep on your back or roll to the opposite side instead. If you tend to shift positions during the night, placing a pillow behind you can help keep you from rolling onto the wrong side.
Use a Lubricating Ointment Before Bed
A preservative-free lubricating eye ointment is one of the most effective tools for getting through the night. Unlike eye drops, which drain away quickly, ointments have a much longer contact time on the surface of the eye. They coat the scratch and keep the cornea moist for hours, preventing your eyelid from sticking to the healing tissue while you sleep. This reduces the chance of the wound reopening when you blink or open your eyes in the morning.
Apply a small ribbon of ointment along the inside of your lower eyelid right before you lie down. Your vision will blur temporarily, but since you’re going to sleep, that doesn’t matter. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching anything near your eye. Rub for at least 15 seconds, rinse under running water, and dry with a clean towel. This prevents bacteria on your fingers from reaching the open wound.
Protect the Eye From Accidental Rubbing
You can’t control what your hands do while you’re asleep. Rubbing or pressing on a scratched eye during the night is a real risk, and it can reinjure the cornea or introduce bacteria. If your doctor gave you a rigid plastic eye shield (sometimes called a Fox shield), tape it over the injured eye before bed. The shield vaults over the eye without touching it, creating a protective dome that blocks accidental contact.
If you don’t have a shield, taping the eye shut with medical tape can help keep the eyelid closed and reduce the urge to rub. Avoid using a tight eye patch or pressing gauze directly against the eye, as added pressure on a healing cornea can do more harm than good.
Managing Pain Enough to Fall Asleep
An over-the-counter pain reliever taken 30 to 45 minutes before bed gives it time to kick in as you’re falling asleep. Ibuprofen helps with both pain and inflammation, while acetaminophen works if you can’t take anti-inflammatory medications. If your doctor prescribed numbing drops or anti-inflammatory eye drops, use them on the schedule you were given, but be aware that prescription numbing drops are typically not meant for repeated home use because they can slow healing.
Keeping the room as dark as possible also helps. Even small amounts of light can trigger the sharp, stabbing pain that comes with light sensitivity. Blackout curtains, a sleep mask worn loosely over the uninjured eye (not pressing on the scratched one), or simply turning all screens face-down can make a noticeable difference.
What to Expect Over the Next Few Days
The cornea heals faster than almost any other tissue in the body. Small, superficial scratches typically resolve within 24 to 48 hours. Larger or deeper abrasions can take three to five days to fully close. During this window, you may wake up with your eye feeling gritty, watery, or stuck shut. Resist the urge to rub it. Instead, apply a few drops of preservative-free artificial tears or ointment to gently loosen the eyelid before opening it.
Deep abrasions that sit in the center of the cornea can leave a small scar as they heal, which may affect vision depending on the location. Scratches caused by contact lenses carry a higher infection risk and need closer monitoring.
Signs the Scratch Isn’t Healing Normally
Most corneal abrasions heal cleanly, but infection is the main complication to watch for. If your pain gets worse instead of better after the first 24 hours, or you notice increasing redness, a white or yellowish spot on the cornea, thick discharge, or worsening vision, those are signs the scratch may be developing into a corneal ulcer. This needs prompt treatment.
There’s also a condition called recurrent corneal erosion, where the healed scratch reopens weeks or months later, often upon waking. About 40% of cases are linked to a prior eye injury. If you start experiencing sudden sharp pain and watering when you open your eyes in the morning long after the original scratch healed, that pattern points to erosion rather than a new injury. Using a lubricating ointment at bedtime for several weeks after the scratch heals can reduce this risk.
Contact Lenses After a Corneal Scratch
Keep your contact lenses out until the scratch has fully healed and your eye feels completely normal. For minor abrasions, that’s typically at least a few days. If the scratch was caused by a contact lens, you’ll need closer follow-up before resuming wear, since lens-related abrasions have a higher chance of infection and may take longer to resolve. Stick with glasses until you get clearance.