An optometrist explains: dry eyes and the heating season
An optometrist explains 31.10.2025
As the colder months arrive, we all enjoy the cosiness of warm indoor spaces. While heating keeps our homes and workplaces nice and warm, it often has one unpleasant side effect: dry eyes.
During the heating season, indoor humidity drops significantly. The heating elements heat the air, but they also remove moisture. Dry air speeds up evaporation of the eye’s tear film, which can make the eyes dry, irritated and tired. Dryness is often accompanied by an unpleasant feeling of sand in the eyes.
In winter, when we spend more time indoors, we also tend to read more and spend more time looking at screens. This exacerbates the problem because when we concentrate, we blink less often (we ‘forget’ to blink).
Increased dryness can also be experienced by contact lens wearers, the elderly, people with certain medical conditions, people taking medication, and people who have had laser surgery. Laser surgery, whether PRK, LASIK or SMILE, causes dry eyes for all patients for a period of time, the severity and duration of which may vary.
Dryness can range from mild discomfort to severe irritation.
Typical symptoms of dry eyes:
- Dryness
- Burning, irritation, itching
- Feeling like there’s a grain of sand in the eye
- Redness
- Excessive tear flow
- Photosensitivity
- Tiredness and/or heaviness in the eyes
- Blurred vision after looking at screens for a long time
How to prevent dry eyes and relieve the symptoms?
There is a lot we can do to prevent and relieve dry eyes:
- Increase indoor humidity
- Take regular breaks from close-up work to follow the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look for 20 seconds at a distance of 6 metres (20 feet), or close your eyes for the same amount of time.
- When working with screens, remember to blink regularly. This also applies to other intensive close-up work.
- Drink plenty of fluids.
- Use artificial tears (preferably preservative-free).
- Protect your eyes from outside conditions like wind and bright sun.
- Avoid direct airflow to the eyes (such as from a car heater or an air source heat pump).
If symptoms of dryness persist and worsen over time despite your best efforts, it’s time to see an ophthalmologist. The doctor will assess the situation and, if necessary, prescribe appropriate treatment, which may include prescription medications or tear caps.
If you’re considering LASIK surgery but suffer from dry eyes, it’s still worth coming in for a pre-operative examination. Our doctors and optometrists will examine your eyes thoroughly, including checking for dryness.
