Battling Dry Eye in Bad Weather

As the autumn and winter sets in, you might find your Dry Eye symptoms worsen. Exposure to weather can cause Dry Eye Disease as the environment impacts your tear production and quality.

Glaring sunshine, pouring rain, brisk wind, and a winter chill can all have you reaching for your eyedrops and struggling to stop your eyes from streaming. So how does bad weather affect dry eyes and how can we battle it?

What Is Dry Eye?

Dry Eye is an extremely common symptom, affecting one in four people in the UK.[1] It most commonly affects women with one study showing the prevalence of Dry Eye Syndrome in their female participants was 42.3% and 20.4% in their male counterparts.[2]

It’s caused by insufficient or inadequate tear quality which can be affected by hormonal fluctuations, medication, and environmental or lifestyle factors.[3] It can cause symptoms like burning, itching, and stinging sensations in the eyes as well as watering and a sensitivity to light.[4] While dry eye can be managed with treatment, it is very uncomfortable and if left untreated the dryness of your eyes can lead to infections which may cause permanent blindness.[1]

A woman leans forward on a chair, rubbing her eyes in pain with a blanket around her shoulders

How Does the Weather Affect Dry Eyes?

As environmental factors can trigger Dry Eye Syndrome, the weather can have an effect, exacerbating symptoms.

Wind

This may be the most obvious weather condition on the list, but wind can have a serious impact on your Dry Eye Disease. The air moving quickly across the surface of your eye can cause the protective tears to evaporate more quickly. Without lubrication or protection from these tears, your eyes are more likely to become irritated and experience dry eye symptoms.[5]

Additionally, the wind can carry particles of debris which can enter the eye and cause irritation and pain.

Rain

The rain doesn’t have to get into your eyes to cause problems. Short bursts of rain can temporarily increase the humidity, which can affect the ocular surface’s moisture balance. This can trigger your Dry Eye Syndrome symptoms.

A woman stands in an autumn scene with sunglasses on, protecting her eyes from the symptoms of Dry Eye Disease.

Sun

The summer is often associated with beaming sunny days that cause people to grab their sunglasses and protect their eyes. But as it enters Autumn, the risk is still there. The shorter days mean that the low afternoon sun enters our direct line of vision. Exposure to the sun rays can cause tears to dry quicker, aggravating Dry Eye Syndrome.[6]

Cold

In the colder months, you’re likely to look for ways to keep warm and toasty. That means people often turn to central heating and fires – two things which can aggravate Dry Eye Disease.

The central heating dries the air in your home which can make moisture evaporate from the surface of your eyes more quickly. Even outdoor humidity drops during winter, putting you at risk for Dry Eye Disease.[7] When you consider how quickly your skin can dry or you experience chapped lips in the winter months, it makes sense that the cold temperatures will also affect our eyes.

Fires can be a source of irritation whether they’re outdoors or in your home. The smoke can irritate your eyes and increase the feelings of dryness and discomfort.

Dry Eye and Winter Illness

During colder, wetter months you may notice more infections going around like the common cold. This is because some viruses survive more easily in the cold, the cold suppresses our immune systems making it harder to fight the virus and we’re indoors more often (meaning it’s easy to transmit viruses).[8] You may find that one of the symptoms of your illness is itchy, red, and watery eyes.

How Can You Prevent Dry Eye From Weather?

The best way to avoid the weather affecting your Dry Eye Disease is to avoid triggers of your Dry Eye Syndrome. But alongside this, there are other things you can do to manage your symptoms and avoid flare-ups of your Dry Eye Disease.

Stay away from open fires.
Use a humidifier in your home to add moisture to the air.
Stay hydrated. Drink lots of water to increase the levels of moisture in your body during dry seasons.
Ensure any heaters and air vents are positioned away from your face.
Cover your eyes when you are outside in bad weather. Either wear wrap-around sunglasses or shades with a scarf or hat.[9]
Take Vitamin D. In the UK, people tend to suffer from a Vitamin D deficiency in the winter months. There is some research which suggests that Vitamin D supplementation can help treat Dry Eye Syndrome.[10]

When it comes to soothing the symptoms of Dry Eye Disease you can use artificial tears or eye drops like VisuXL® which can help heal ocular surface damage, offering greater symptom relief. Shop for VisuXL® here.  

MeiboPatch® can be a great addition to your night routine during periods of bad weather. The heated compress offers relief and comfort as well as stimulating the normal secretions from the meibomian glands to fight Dry Eye Syndrome.

A woman runs from the camera in a snowy, winter scene with a shawl around her shoulders.

During autumn and winter, periods of bad weather can aggravate symptoms of Dry Eye Disease, but it doesn’t have to control your life. Get help for your Dry Eye Syndrome today and head to @dryeyeandme on Instagram and Facebook to find more helpful tips and tricks.

References

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