subject: Tips on Avoiding Dry Eyes While Traveling [print this page] Tips on Avoiding Dry Eyes While Traveling
It's travel season, and with Thanksgiving just a few days away everyone is either flying or driving somewhere. If you're prone to watery eyes, or dry eyes, this is the time of year that you tend to worry about. With all of the Thanksgiving traveling, flying and driving can leave your eyes in a bad state, so it's best to take some precautions before your trip date.
Because the eyes are so sensitive, traveling during allergy season, which also happens to be the holidays, can be a hassle for watery and dry eyes. Our eyes are subject to changing temperatures, altitudes, gusty winds, dry air, moist air, and any other kind of environmental condition that you can think of. These factors play a huge role in how your eyes will react during the holidays.
There are some precautions that you can take before heading out to the airport or to the car for that long drive to see family for the holidays. Traveling with dry eyes, or watery eyes, involves being prepared, and the best way to be prepared is to become educated. Here are some simple steps that you can take to avoid dry eyes while traveling, or watery eyes while traveling.
1. Stay hydrated. If you're traveling through air or car, one of the best things that you can do is to stay hydrated. Between the notoriously dry airplane atmosphere to the A/C controlled car and the over-heated hotels, dry eyes are almost a given. If you can stay hydrated by drinking water throughout the day you'll decrease your chances of getting dry eyes while traveling.
2. Keep your eyes lubricated. If you're experiencing overly watery eyes, or dry eyes, the root cause is probably the atmosphere that you're traveling in. Eye lubricants and artificial tears will help your eyes remain lubricated. Talk to your Chandler eye doctor about the best lubricant to use for your eyes. Many times it will depend on whether you're driving or flying, and whether you're headed to a colder or warmer atmosphere.
3. Wear sunglasses or ski goggles. This is the most crucial time of year to keep your eyes protected from UV light. While you might not think about it in cold temperatures, the holidays are when family hits the slopes together. It's also the time of year when sun reflection off of the snow is at its absolute worst. If we've said it once we've said it a million times, keep your eyes protected and covered during the winter months.
4. Avoid irritants like smoke or dust. Besides skiing and spending time with family, this is also the time of year for holiday parties. Drinking and smoking can cause dehydration and irritation to your eyes, as can pollen, pollution and other airborne particles.
5. Lastly, but most importantly, stay ahead of the game. If you know that you're about to take a long car ride with the A/C on, or if you're about to sit in a plane for a few hours, take precautions by applying eye drops before your eyes become irritated. The biggest mistake that travelers make this time of year is to wait until they're experiencing symptoms of dry or watery eyes, then they take the necessary steps to fix the problem. If you've waited until your eyes are irritated, it might be too late for a fix.
And, as always, we recommend speaking to your Chandler eye doctor before traveling by plane or car, that way your optometrist can prescribe the right eye lubricant for your situation.
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