Hi janf,
I used to have a lot of burning eye pain. I finally realized that because I was not getting my face fully washed and rinsed like you would with a daily shower, oils and tiny pieces of dried tears were building up on and under my eyelids and eyelashes. Now we have a daily regimen that helps significantly (although not completely).
Every morning when I wake up, Jen wipes my eyelids with a warm, damp wash cloth, giving special attention to the inside and outside corners. She then puts a couple drops of no preservative, non-medicated, lubricating drops in my eyes. I gently blink a couple times and close my eyes for a few moments. This distributes the fluid and allows it to start dissolving any solids. I then open my eyes and blink normally, allowing the liquefied solids to migrate to the edges of my eyelids. I wait until I feel a dry crust around my eyes, then we repeat the process until I no longer feel any solids dried around my eyelids.
About once a week we carefully clean my lids and lashes with diluted baby shampoo on a Q-tip. I hope this helps. :-D
Mike