How to Tape Your Eye Closed (Adults)

When your eye or eyes cannot close properly due to facial paralysis, you may need to tape your eye(s) closed for sleep or if it is particularly painful during the day.

How do I tape my eye closed?

The video below explains how to tape your eye closed.

How do I tape my lower eyelid?

The video below explains how to lift and better support your lower lid. If you wear makeup you can use a very thin strip and usually hide it underneath your makeup. Just lifting your lower eyelid a fraction can make a difference to your comfort so we recommend experimenting. It may be that eye soreness has become a bigger issue as you age, this can be due to the skin losing elasticity and/or reduced muscle tone which is not supporting the lower eyelid as well as it once did. There are surgeries that can help but eye taping can be a good way to relieve discomfort in the short term.

Please note: The videos above use Transpore tape but a gentler option for upper eyelid taping (taping the eye shut for sleep) is Siltape. If you use Siltape, you need to close your eye with your finger, hold it closed and then apply the tape making sure you press down from inner eye to outer eye so you don’t get air pockets. If your eye specialist has recommended you use eye drops or ointment such as lacrilube, excess ointment may prevent the tape from sticking properly. Please refer to your eye specialist for advice regarding eye care if you are having trouble taping your eyes closed. For more tips about eye care please visit our dry eye advice page. You can read about the different eye lubrication options on our eye lubrication page

For children see our children’s eye taping guide.

What kind of surgical tape can be used for eye taping?

There are different brands of tape you can use to tape your eye closed, this can make it much more comfortable to sleep. These include but are not limited to:

3M Transpore tape – this is tearable tape, if you are using it for taping the whole eye down then make sure you buy a wide enough tape, e.g. 5cm width.

Clinipore Clear Surgical tape – this is another tearable tape which comes in 1.25 and 2.5cm widths. These tapes are not wide enough for taping the whole eye closed but have good adhesion for lower lid taping.

Siltape – there are two different sizes, you will need the 4cm x 1.5m size to cover your eye properly.

Transpore and Siltape can usually be sourced via Amazon. Clinipore can be a little harder to source.