Dry Eyes and Driving: Dealing with Dry Eye Disease Symptoms

Dry Eye Disease can be irritating and uncomfortable during your flare-ups – but dealing with it while driving can make symptoms feel unbearable. Driving is a time you don’t want distractions, so excessive watering, itchiness, and pain are the last things most drivers want to be dealing with. But why do people get dry eyes when they’re driving and how can you tackle it so you can enjoy your journey?

At Dry Eye and Me, we’re Dry Eye Disease experts, so we’re here to help you deal with your condition and provide useful information, tips, and tricks to make living with and treating Dry Eye Syndrome simpler.

What is Dry Eye Disease?

Dry Eye Disease is an incredibly common condition, affecting 344 million people worldwide.[1] It happens when your tears aren’t able to properly lubricate your eyes because of a decrease in the quality or quantity of your tear supply. This is caused by a number of things such as aging, eye strain, contact lenses, and conditions such as Blepharitis.[2]

Your tears are formed of three layers (the oily layer, the watery layer, and the mucus layer). If these layers are disturbed and your tears don’t have enough of any of these layers, they will evaporate, and you may start feeling the symptoms of Dry Eye Disease.

This can be due to Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD)[3] which causes the oily layer to break down and allows the watery layer to evaporate.[4] Dry Eye Disease can also be caused by conditions that damage the tear glands which causes a decrease in the production of your tears. If your eyes aren’t able to create more tears, there’s less fluid to hydrate them, causing the dryness that gives the condition its name.[4]

Without proper treatment, Dry Eye Disease can lead to complications such as scarring, corneal ulcers, and even permanent vision loss, so it’s important to treat your symptoms and talk to your doctor or optometrist to see if there is an underlying cause.[3]

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What are Dry Eye Symptoms?

Dry Eye Syndrome can have many symptoms, but some of the most often reported are:

Watery eyes

Sensitivity to light

A gritty or foreign body sensation

Eye fatigue (tiredness)

Blurred vision

Feelings of itchiness or dryness

Can Driving Cause Dry Eye Disease?

While most medical professionals would not say that driving causes Dry Eye Disease, driving can contribute to flare-ups of symptoms (periods where the symptoms of Dry Eye Syndrome are more pronounced). Dealing with the itchiness and irritation of dry eyes can affect a lot of daily activities. In fact, one study showed that dry eyes impacted the driving of nearly 30% of Dry Eye Syndrome sufferers.[5]

One study compared drivers diagnosed with Dry Eye Disease to people treated with tear substitutes and to healthy subjects with no indications of Dry Eye Disease. It revealed that about 40% of DED (Dry Eye Disease) patients had dangerous driving experiences with their symptoms including soreness, burning, pain, tearing, grittiness, and blurred vision.[6]

When you drive you can be exposed to a number of the factors that can cause Dry Eye Disease symptom flare-ups.

What Causes Dry Eyes When You Drive?

Staring for too long 

Poor blinking habits, often associated with intense concentration (like when people drive) has been tied to dry eyes. Disrupting the natural blinking reflex can aggravate symptoms, which is why many Dry Eye professionals advise using the 20-20-20 rule – look away for 20 seconds, every 20 minutes, at something 20 feet away.[7] If you’re unable to do this while you drive, you should make sure you’re taking regular breaks to rest your eyes.

Air conditioning 

Air conditioning and heating systems in your cars (keeping you comfortable no matter the weather) can be harming your eye health. They reduce air moisture, in turn aggravating your dry and irritated eyes.[8] In addition, they can also send particles and dust into your eyes if they’re not cleaned frequently, causing more aggravation.

Wind 

If you’re a fan of driving with your windows down, you might notice your Dry Eye acting up on car trips. That’s because the wind can aggravate the condition as the air moving quickly over the surface of the eyes causes the protective tears to evaporate more quickly.[9]

Lights

Whether it’s fluorescent lights or headlights, bright lights can aggravate your watering and stinging eyes. Light sensitivity is very common for Dry Eye Disease patients as your tears are beneficial not just for hydrating your eyes, but also for protecting nerve endings from light irritation. Without a healthy tear film, you may not be able to focus lights properly.[10] When you’re in the car you may be battling with the sun or headlights and street lamps at night, often aggravating your symptoms and making it hard to focus and drive safely. The irritation to your eye’s surface can cause glare to worsen, making driving at night with lights even more difficult.

Smoking  

While smoking in cars is much less common nowadays, if you do smoke in the car, it’s likely the smoke will be trapped in a small space, aggravating the eyes. For more information on smoking and Dry Eye, you can read our blog here. 

Dry Eye at Night

Driving at night can be more difficult as you age. This can be a consequence of many ocular conditions often associated with a later stage of life including glaucoma, cataracts, worsening vision, and dry eyes. For many of these conditions, they’re progressive and will often worsen with age or more commonly occur in older patients (such as Dry Eye Disease) but can be treated and managed.

However, in the evening – especially when driving – they can increase sensitivity to glare or affect your distance vision, making driving unsafe. At night, vision is already limited and there will often be bright lights (often coming at you rapidly as cars turn their headlights and full beams on). There are steps you can take to help combat this, such as using anti-glare coating on glasses, choosing yellow or amber tinted lenses, and slowing your driving speed, but many people choose to restrict or reduce their night driving as they age.[11]

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How Do You Deal with Dry Eyes When You Drive?

While driving with Dry Eye Disease can be frustrating – and sometimes dangerous – there are many steps you can take to improve the experience and ensure you’re driving off into the sunset safely. Here are some ways you can deal with your dry eyes while you drive and try to avoid flareups:

Eye Drops for Dry Eyes

VisuXL® Gel: This gel eye drop is best for those who suffer from intense flare-ups of Dry Eye Disease or need long-lasting protection, making them perfect for driving home at the end of the day or for road trips. If you’re using drops multiple times a day or need extra relief in the evening, VisuXL® Gel may be the right choice for longer-lasting comfort while driving. Shop VisuXL® Gel here.

Xailin® Intense: For Dry Eye Disease sufferers who find themselves battling dryness and itchiness because of their environment – like the wind or dust from the open window or car air conditioning – Xailin® Intense can be the best eye drops for your dry eyes. It’s formulated to offer more intensive soothing of severe dry eyes. Shop Xailin® Intense here.

TREHAPAN®: If long term Dry Eye Syndrome has been bothering you, and damaged the surface of your eye, TREHAPAN® can offer long lasting comfort, helping you drive without the itchiness and irritation damage can cause. Shop TREHAPAN® here.

Ditch the contacts

While you can wear contacts if you suffer from Dry Eye Syndrome, it is advised that you make the switch to glasses while you’re driving as contacts can dry the eyes, making your symptoms worse.[9]

If you are wearing glasses, make sure they’re correct for your vision with up-to-date testing and choose anti-glare lenses to help avoid accidents and discomfort when driving at night.[11]

Wear sunglasses

Whether you’re protecting your eyes from light sensitivity or the wind, sunglasses can be a great tool for protecting you from irritation and pollutants. They’re a great addition to your driving must haves.[11]

Turn vents away

Don’t direct vents toward your face, as this can worsen Dry Eye symptoms. Instead, turn airflow towards the windscreen which will allow it to circulate through the car and help cool it down.[12]

Take breaks

One of the most important ways to navigate driving with dry eyes is to take breaks. These will allow your eyes to rest and recover, letting tears coat the eyes and fully lubricate and moisturise.[5] These breaks can be a great chance to apply eye drops, drink some water, and try the 20-20-20 method. If you’re driving for a long period of time, use these to take a short rest, either closing your eyes for longer or even sleeping.

What Eye Conditions Stop You From Driving?

There are actually a number of eye conditions that can affect your driving and have to be reported to the UK Government, though this list differs for different countries and regions so it’s important to check your local laws to see what you have to report. This is because these conditions can impact your vision and have possibly been associated with accidents on the road. In the UK these include:

blepharospasm

diabetic retinopathy

diplopia

nyctalopia

glaucoma[13]

However, if you suffer from Dry Eye Disease, there is nothing stopping you driving except for the severity of your symptoms making you feel you have to refrain from driving. If you believe your symptoms are stopping you from completing your daily tasks like driving, then it’s time to seek help and reduce your suffering.

There’s no need to suffer in silence. Support is available, and our Dry Eye and Me community is here for you. Visit our Facebook and our Instagram and let us help you get back on the road comfortably and confidently.

References

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