Here’s what you need to see right now to benefit more from your contact lens usage during winter!

1—Winter: This The Season To Be Freezin’

Winter and the colder weather we immediately associate with it bring lower humidity levels, leading to a decrease in moisture in the air. Not only does this dramatically affect what we call the “feels like” temperature on overcast days or windy, unsettled weekends, but low humidity significantly impacts your vision, comfort and eye health.

How?

This dry environment can cause the eyes to become dry and irritated. Some who experience this on an acute level may find that dry eye symptoms lead to symptoms such as itching, burning, redness, and a gritty sensation. In addition, dry eye syndrome can be exacerbated in cold climates, as both indoor heating systems and cold winds outdoors contribute to increased evaporation of tears from the eye surface.

How, then, does this impact contact lens wearers?

Dry eyes (due to low humidity as a seasonal cause) and regular contact lens wear can make for a painful combination. Therefore, your fresh pair of contact lenses can dry out quickly. If you’re in the habit of maximising your contact lenses’ wear time, you’re likely trying to get 8-10 hours out of a pair–at a minimum! What, though, can you do if you are six hours in and feeling the burn?

• Use lubricating eye drops or re-wetting drops to alleviate dryness and maintain adequate moisture. Ask your optometrist for a suitable product for contact lens wearers. The appropriate choice of eye drops can make or break your contact lens and vision-comfort experience during winter.

If you’ve already begun to feel the wintery effects of contact lenses, dry eye, and low humidity, don’t panic. But don’t ignore it and try and push through the day, whether at work or getting an early run on the snow fields.

Instead, get in touch with a local optometrist. Independently operating optometrists are available at any branch of The Optical Superstore, offering bulk-billed eye tests, making discussing your individual contact lens and eyecare needs simple and easy.

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• Stay Hydrated! We may think of our bodies needing water each day in a general sense, but do we get how our eyes benefit, specifically? Proper hydration improves tear volume, and when we talk about tears, we don’t just mean when we have a good cry [like a common reaction to the satisfying ending of Season 3 of The Mandalorian or the latest season of Farmer Wants A Wife].

Anyway… tears are expressed every time we blink. This benefits our eyes and absolutely assists with keeping all-day wear of contact lenses comfortable.

So drink up for comfortable contact lenses (water, that is!)

2—Allergies Exist In Winter Too

Did you know? Allergies aren’t just a ‘springtime’ thing.

While seasonal allergies are commonly associated with spring and summer, some individuals may experience eye allergies even in colder months. For example, allergens such as mould spores and dust mites can be present indoors during winter when people spend more time in enclosed spaces with inadequate ventilation [you know, like sitting around the heater during Hard Quiz or by that glorious open fireplace at your rich cousins’ house].

These allergens can trigger allergic conjunctivitis, causing symptoms like redness, itching, watering eyes, and swelling of the delicate eyelid zones around the eyes—another significant impact on regular contact lens wearers!

Again, we encourage you to speak to an optometrist for some quality care and peace of mind (did we mention we offer access to bulk bill optometrist services in every Optical Superstore location?) and contact lens care.

So. whether your contact lens routine needs some winter-time tweaking with further water intake and eye drops recommendations, or your eyes are susceptible to the seasonal specifics of winter—in all its low humidity glory—and you need prompt, affordable advice, rest assured that your eyecare family here at The Optical Superstore have your eyes in good hands.

And remember: Never catch snowflakes on your tongue until all the birds have flown south for the winter!