Here are our opticians’ top 5 eye care tips for your eyes this winter.
Don’t forget UV protection
We tend to associate winter with “dull, cloudy, dreary” days while summer days are “bright, sunny and clear”. Based on this, we tend to wear our sunglasses https://www.eye-emporium.com/collections/sunglasses more so in the summer- as the assumption is that UV levels are higher. In actual fact, there is more UV light present in the winter months.Exposure to UV light can have many side effects, including speeding up the progression of cataracts. It is also a risk factor for developing conditions such as macular degeneration. It is therefore very important to ensure that you are protecting your eyes from UV light. This can be done by means of sunglasses or lenses that change colour based on UV levels in the surroundings.
Use ocular lubricants
One of the biggest struggles many people find they have in the winter is stepping into the cold and finding that their eyes start streaming. This is more often than not due to the wind and cold drying up our eyes.One of the ways this can be overcome is through the use of ocular lubricants, a.k.a. dry eye drops such as Thealoz Duo. Using dry eye drops regularly through the day, as well as just before you go out will maintain the ocular tear film and reduce tear evaporation which is also at a higher rate indoors in winter due to the heating being on.
Keep your vision clear
The other big issue people find they have in the winter is the steaming up of the windscreen and of their spectacle lenses. When we move from the cold outdoors to the warmth inside our glasses often steam up resulting in us not being able to see for a short while which is an inconvenience.This can be avoided by wearing contact lenses, which do not have a cold surface that can steam up thus maintaining clarity throughout the day. If you want to keep wearing your glasses, using anti-fog wipes https://www.eye-emporium.com/collections/accessories/products/no-fog-spectacle-wipes on your glasses lenses can also work well and help maintain your vision clear.