#192: Best Tips to Enjoy Summer with Dry Eyes

Summer is a great time of the year to enjoy spending time with your friends and family outdoors. This can be especially challenging for dry eye sufferers since they often are sensitive to wind and sunlight. Let’s discuss three ways to protect your eyes this summer.  

#1) Protect Your Eyes 

Wearing your sunglasses to protect our eyes from UV rays is important any time of the year. Harmful UV rays have been linked to cataract creation and an increased risk of development of macular degeneration. In the summer, it is extra important to wear sunglasses because there are more hours of daylight. 

When you have dry eyes, your eyes tend to be more sensitive to light and to wind. I like to wear sunglasses whenever I'm outdoors year-round, but especially in the summertime. Make sure that your sunglasses provide adequate protection from UV light. They should be marked with a UV rating. Also, consider choosing a wraparound style of lens if you are bothered by wind. 

If you’d like more tips on choosing the best sunglasses for your dry eyes, check out this blog.

#2) Stay Hydrated 

It's important in the summertime to stay hydrated. We often think about hydration with dry eye as putting drops on top of your eyes to add moisture. But, there's new ways that you can add moisture to your body.  

Usually, I talk a lot about staying hydrated by drinking water, but now we have ways to hyperhydrate. The dry eye drink, is a sugar-free supplement that can increase your hydration 2-3 times more than by drinking water alone. This is an additive that you can add to your water to keep you hyper hydrated 

It contains some extra vitamins: A, C, B3, B6, and B13. It also includes a little green tea extract and algae, which is super nutritious for your body and your eyes. Just add the packet to your bottle of water, give it a shake, and drink it down. The dry eye drink now comes in three flavors: Orange, Mixed Berry, and Strawberry Lemonade. 

#3) Remove your Contacts 

You don't want your contact lenses to soak up any water because then they'll be trapped up against your eyes. Any impurities in the water, whether it is chlorine or bacteria from a lake, river, or ocean, would then be concentrated up against your eyes.

This can lead to irritation and infection whether your eyes are dry or not. Before you sleep, swim, or shower, always take out your contact lenses.

Instead, try wearing a prescription pair of sunglasses. I often wear sunglasses in the water if I'm not going to be getting my head wet. And they will protect your eyes from the sun. You can check out this blog for a complete guide to choosing the best sunglasses  to protect your eyes.

If you do need to get your head wet or open your eyes under water, try prescription googles. Ready made goggles are available if you don't have a lot of astigmatism in your prescription. If you do, you can have googles custom made with your prescription. You can even find ready-made snorkel masks with a bifocal for better up-close viewing. You can ask your eye care practitioner to see which option would be best for your personal eye care needs.

CONCLUSION 

There you have it. Three tips to be successful this summer and have a great time while you're out enjoying the outdoors. Remember to protect your eyes from the sun with the proper sunglasses. Stay hydrated with the Dry Eye Drink and always take your contact lenses out before water sports. There are lots of ways to correct your vision with readily available prescription goggles.