Winter is a season of extremes: indoors with the heating or fireplaces on and icy cold wind outside. The difference between the outside and inside environment is great and this represents a great challenge for our eyes, which have to face these thermal contrasts. Both cold, dry air outside and hot air inside can irritate them. And, unlike other parts of our body, our eyes have nowhere to hide to protect themselves, although they do have natural protective mechanisms such as eyelashes, eyelids and tears that help withstand these winter conditions.
The enemies of sight in winter
But even with all these mechanisms, the cold weather and other typical environments of these months can still affect our eyes, especially because these conditions come together at the same time and make this protective system unable to produce the excess tears that the eyes need. eyes to stay hydrated and protected.
They prove it studies like this collected in PubMed, according to which factors such as wind, sun or heat, but also cold, aggravate the sensation of dry eyes. Specifically, 43% of consultations about dry eye would occur during the winter, when several factors come together:
- Heating: the cold of winter makes us stay indoors longer with the heating on. However, heating systems remove moisture from the air, which causes or worsens dry eyes.
- More hours in front of a screen: in winter we tend to spend more time indoors, which for many people means also spending more time in front of a screen and it can be tiring on the eyes to look at a monitor for prolonged periods of time.
- Low humidity: the environment is usually drier in winter, which causes eye infections to increase due to the dry eye syndromewhich is one of the most common reasons for optometric consultation during these colder months and which usually manifests itself with pain, burning, redness, tired eyes or a gritty sensation.
- Less light: The shorter days of the winter months can make us notice that we need to wear glasses more, especially as we age. This is because when there is less natural light available, the pupil expands, which reduces the eye’s depth of focus and causes us to experience blurred vision.
- Wind and cold: Cold winter air is usually less humid than warm summer air. This means that it has the ability to draw more moisture from the surface of the eye, which can cause a feeling of dryness. Both effects, cold and wind, would act in a similar way, that is, accelerating the evaporation of tears and thus causing irritation and redness.
Despite all these setbacks, there are some things we can do and steps we can take to reduce the risk of eye problems now that the weather is colder. Here are some tips:
Use a humidifier
As we have mentioned, indoor heating can dry out the air, causing dry eyes. Using a humidifier at home adds moisture to the air, which can help keep your eyes more comfortable by reducing tear film evaporation and preventing feelings of dryness. We can place it in the areas where we spend the most time, especially in the bedroom, to maintain a healthier level of humidity.
Moisturize the eyes
Just like our skin, our eyes also need to be hydrated during these months with artificial tears, very useful in the case of dry eyes and after continued use of screens. Good hydration of the eyes should not overlook the importance of also maintaining good hydration for the body in general. Therefore, it is important to replace lost body fluids by drinking enough water or other liquids and consuming enough vegetables and fruits, prioritizing vitamins and antioxidants such as vitamin A, C and E and omega-3 acids from small oily fish such as sardines or anchovies.
Don’t forget sunglasses
A coat, a scarf and a hat are essential pieces in winter. But it is also important to protect our eyes from ultraviolet rays, especially if we practice winter sports, since snow and ice can reflect sunlight, which increases exposure to these ultraviolet rays.
In fact, it is estimated that in a snowy environment reflects 80% more ultraviolet radiation compared to other surfaces and, furthermore, for every thousand meters of altitude, the radiation affects 15% more. Another aspect that we must not forget is that, in winter, the sun goes lower and, therefore, many reflective surfaces can be created that drastically increase the amount of bright light.
Get adequate lighting
Good interior lighting is another key point, especially in winter, when the amount of natural light is much less and, therefore, we depend more on artificial lighting. To do this, we can use multiple light sources to increase the amount of light without relying on a bright overhead light, use warm light bulbs instead of cold light bulbs to create a more natural feel, or use directed lamps for tasks such as reading or write. We must also try to make the most of the use of natural light by placing ourselves near a window during the day if we are going to read or work.
Take breaks from screens
Here we can apply the 20/20/20 rule, which consists of stopping looking at any screen for 20 seconds every 20 minutes and focusing your gaze on any point that is about six meters away to rest your eyes. It will also help us to minimize distracting reflections on the screen, for example, those from windows, as well as blinking frequently to avoid dryness.
Wash your hands frequently
Although it may not seem that there may be a relationship between hand hygiene and eye health, the reality is that it is more important than we could imagine. In winter, in addition, the frequency with which we usually wash our eyes may be less, which means that rubbing our eyes with dirty hands can cause infectious conjunctivitis, which usually appears in the form of itching, redness and inflammation of the eye.
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