Winter Eye Problems

During the winter months, the weather and environment can really affect your eyes, and this can often be forgotten about. Here are some common eye problems people can suffer with during winter and tips on how to combat them. Dry Eyes During winter, the weather is colder and windier and this can really dry the eyes, but also when you try to warm up by using heat, such as a blower heater or central heating, this can also dry out the eyes. Some easy tips to help combat this problem is to use artificial tear drops to keep your eyes hydrated throughout the day, drinking plenty of water, and even warm soup, will keep your body and eyes hydrated. Also try to avoid direct heat, especially heat that is blowing directly in your face, like car heaters for example, try to direct the airflow away from your face. If it is a windy day you can use glasses or goggles to help protect your eyes from the wind directly drying out your eyes. If you already suffer from dry eyes it is always a good idea to speak to your ophthalmologist if you are struggling in the winter months, as they will advise what else you can do to keep on top of your dry eyes during winter. Tearing Eyes Apart from winter weather drying out your eyes, the cold weather can also make your eyes over produce tears which can be very annoying and can make vision blurry. The best thing to help with this is to wear glasses, goggles, or sunglasses when outside to avoid the wind causing watery eyes. Also, if you are wiping your eyes to get rid of the tears make sure you use clean tissues or cloths to avoid infection. Excessive tearing eyes can also be caused by other factors such as infection, blocked tear duct, or surprisingly dry eyes, so if you are conce ed make an appointment with your eye clinic or opticians so they can check it out. Tired Eyes The winter months are darker and natural light is less which can make certain tasks more difficult, reading and writing for example. Straining your eyes to see in lower light can cause eyestrain making your eyes feel tired quicker than usual. To help avoid this try having a lamp on when carrying out close work and if you require glasses to see well, make sure you wear them to avoid overstraining your eyes. Light Sensitive Eyes The sun tends to be lower in the sky during winter and this can cause difficulty seeing, especially when driving, light sensitivity, and damage caused by UV rays. Try to make a habit of not only wearing sunglasses in the summer, but also the winter. If you drive, keep a spare pair of sunglasses in your car so you are always prepared for the low, bright sun. Sunglasses also protect your eyes from the sun’s harmful UV rays which can contribute to many eye issues, such as cataracts. Make sure your sunglasses are 100% UVA and UVB protected. Red Eyes Red eyes can be a sign of many things, such as tiredness, dryness, blurry vision, over tearing, infection, and inflammation. Winter weather can cause eye redness due to many of these factors but also it can be caused from the sunlight either directly or from being reflected on snow for example. This can lead to inflammation of the cornea causing the red eyes, therefore this is another reason why wearing sunglasses or snow goggles is so important in winter.