This article was originally published in a sponsored newsletter.
When I was in the Caribbean recently, I was reminded of how environmental factors play a part in the severity of dry eye disease symptoms. Patients tell me their eyes feel better when they visit coastal regions or areas with high humidity. I have dry eyes myself, and I live and practice in northern Nevada. The humidity ranges from 24% in the summer to 65% in the winter with an average of 41.7%. In comparison, the average humidity in the Caribbean is 79%, and it made a difference for me on my vacation. I was much less aware of my eyes than I usually am at home in Nevada.
However, while a humid environment can lessen some symptoms, it doesn’t completely extinguish them. For instance, my symptoms came back rapidly when I worked on a computer or any other light-emitting display, especially when I had a ceiling fan in the room with me.
Educating patients to manage their environment is an important part of dry eye treatment. They need to be aware of environmental factors—such as forced air and ceiling fans—that can exacerbate symptoms, especially in cases of inadequate lid seal during sleep.
One question I like to ask my patients is how their eyes feel when they are not working. Because many patients spend a lot of time on a computer at their jobs, so their eyes should feel better when they are not at work. However, if they spend hours on their phones, tablets, computers or other screens, this may not be the case. While a person blinks 22 times a minute normally, that rate decreases to 10 blinks a minute while reading and further decreases to seven times a minute while using a light-emitting display. When we add air from a ceiling fan or forced air into the equation, eyes still experience dryness even in 79% humidity.
Educating patients on environmental issues encourages them to make simple ergonomic changes that could decrease their symptoms.
