Can humidifying help? (Posted: April 2003)

There’s nothing like a nice dry environment to dry out your already dry eyes even more. If you are suffering from moderate to severe tear film problems, you really ought to think about some of the small practical things you can do to prevent excessive surface evaporation. Since there don’t seem to be any miracle cures available, the best we can do is cobble together all the little things we can to make it more bearable.

Theoretically, the UK and Ireland are rather humid, are they not? Oftentimes I would say they are even downright soggy. But when you’ve got the thermostat set at 75°f and all that nice wet air has fled for its life, you’re not exactly getting the benefit of the climate. Even if you moved to Florida, everybody runs their air conditioning so much you would be no better off.

Bottom line, if you want to be more comfortable, humidify the heck out of your life. Humidifier in the home, humidifier at work if you can talk them into it, and we’ve even heard there is a personal humidifier you can wear (if we find out the details we’ll put them in the Links Library). And for goodness’ sake turn the heat down.

Night time? Yes, I know, this is getting repetitive. We don’t care. It will help, and if you didn’t need help you wouldn’t be here. Put a humidifier in your bedroom, and turn down the heat or turn it off. If you don’t have somebody to keep you warm or you’ve demoted him/her to the sofa, well, undemote him/her, buy an electric blanket and use it on a low setting or get a dog.

How can I protect my eyes from wind and drafts? (posted: apr 2003)

Aiming the fan in the car directly at your face isn’t exactly bright when your tears are evaporating faster than rain in the Sahara. Whatever air-movers you can redirect or turn off, do so.

Many people with dry eye find that wearing glasses helps reduce tear evaporation and makes it more comfortable to be outside or to participate in "windy" activities like biking or running. There are also some glasses which have foam gaskets to the face, like ski goggles, which will help keep your eye environment moist, but without looking ridiculous.

For those of you who don’t seem to mind the wind, you might want to wear glasses of some sort anyway, because you may find that the wind may be causing excess reflex tearing — remember reflex tears, the watery ones? They dilute what little good stuff you actually had in your eyes so your tears start evaporating faster than ever. Wear sunglasses, or just plain glasses with non prescription lenses, when you’re outside.

Can goggles help? (posted: apr 2003)

We know some people who are only ever comfortable when they are wearing really good goggles that keep moisture sealed in. The only downside, of course, is being unprepared for the fashion statement you will make. Well, just thought we’d mention it. We’ve done our duty, and if you don’t want to wear your goggles and set a new trend, it’s not our fault.

Outdoor sports buffs on the other hand may be highly motivated to look into some serious eyewear. If you’re wearing glasses or contacts currently, consider getting some high quality prescription goggles to wear some of the time at least. Check out our goggles listings in the Links Library for some good online vendors.

Why is night time worse? (posted: apr 2003)

Night is often the worst time for dry eye patients because when you’re asleep, well, you can’t dump more drops in your eye or do whatever else you do during the day. Worse, many of you, whether you know it or not, are now sleeping with your eyes ever so slightly open, so part of your eyes are exposed to the air and tears are evaporating almost before you’ve started snoring. So you get corneal erosions. Some of you get recurrent corneal erosions. That is not a good thing. There are lots of things you can do and hopefully some combination of them will help.

Can lid therapy, drops, gels or ointments help protect my eyes at night? (posted: apr 2003)

Maybe you’ve read the other sections, maybe you haven’t. If you haven’t, (a) you need to wrestle your meibomian glands into maximum submission by using lid therapy — this will give you at least somewhat better protection against the tear evaporation. (b) Get the best artificial tears you can; really good ones may be enough on their own. Keep them on your nightstand where you can grab them without opening your eyes. (c) Get a gel and put some in each eye before bed. (d) Try not to use ointments — they are not good for your eyes long-term.

What is a "moisture chamber" and how can it help protect my eyes at night? (posted: apr 2003)

One of the best things you can do for your eyes at night is cover them up and trap the moisture in and around them so it doesn’t all escape into the overheated air of your bedroom. Now, why is it that the best things to do, like lid therapy, are also a pain in the *ss? There is simply nothing you can wear that’s going to be 100% comfortable if you thrash around on your bed all night. Ski goggles just won’t cut it. — During late pregnancy, I used to put gel or a sort of ointment (not petroleum based, one that you can’t get in the UK) on my eyes and then I would take a strip of plastic cling film and press it down over my eyes. At the time, of course, I had to sleep on my back anyway, at 8 months pregnant I wasn’t particularly worried about not looking sexy, and I was so desperate for sleep I’d have stuck my whole head in a tube of ointment to keep from waking up with an abrasion.

But, getting practical now, how can you seal in moisture?

1. Put goop (gel) in your eyes and tape your eyes shut. I know it sounds awful, but it’s not that bad. You need medical tape, that isn’t really sticky, and you want to be rather careful taking it off so you don’t denude yourself of eyelashes or eyebrows.
2. Put goop in your eyes and use a night guard — the soft kind like the ones the airlines give you on long flights. Even those may make a considerable difference in your eye comfort and safety overnight.
3. Put goop in your eyes and use cling film on top.
4. Put good in your eyes and wear goggles. Low marks for comfort, high marks for trapping moisture.