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Snow Blindness, Dryness, And More: 3 Common Eye Problems In Winter

During the winter months, all different types of concerns arise. Many people get sick, skin dryness becomes a prevalent problem, and more. Your eyes are affected by winter weather, too. From dryness to excessive watering and more, there are all sorts of different common eye problems in winter. Fortunately, most can be helped.

Here’s what you need to know about some of the most common eye problems in winter, as well as what you can do to help with each issue.

#1. Snow Blindness

common eye problems in winter

Also known as photokeratitis, snow blindness occurs when your eyes have been exposed to too much UV light. Basically, snow blindness is a sunburn on your eyes. You know how light reflects off of snow and can temporarily blind you? Snow blindness is when the UV rays from that glare damage your eyes.

Some of the symptoms of snow blindness include:

  • Eye pain
  • Watering
  • Swelling eyes
  • Twitching eyelids
  • Seeing halos around lights
  • Pain in bright light
  • And more

In spite of the name, snow blindness doesn’t just happen during the winter. It can also occur anywhere there is bright sunlight, such as on a beach.

How You Can Help It

Usually, snow blindness doesn’t cause permanent damage. It typically goes away within a few days. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to see a doctor.

There are some things you can do to both prevent snow blindness and treat it.

  • Take out your contacts and opt for glasses.
  • Wear sunglasses outside.
  • Use eye drops to protect the surface of your eyes.
  • Take painkillers as needed.
  • Stay out of the sun. 
  • Talk to your doctor.

#2. Dry Eyes

common eye problems in winter

During the winter, humidity levels in the air drop. Snowstorms bring winds that can dry out your eyes. Indoor heating reduces the amount of moisture in the air. With less moisture in the air, both inside and outside, dry eyes is among the most common eye problems in winter.

Some symptoms of dry eyes include:

  • Itching
  • Redness
  • Burning
  • Stickiness
  • Feeling like there’s something in your eye

If you already have dry eyes, this condition can be exacerbated by winter weather.

How You Can Help It

If you suffer from dry eyes, there are several things you can do to help. It’s always a good idea to talk to your eye doctor, especially if none of the following measures provide relief, as they will be able to provide you with expert medical advice specific to you.

  • Opt for glasses instead of contact lenses.
  • Try to wear your contacts less.
  • Use humidifiers inside.
  • Wear sunglasses outside. 
  • Use artificial tears. 
  • Lower the temperature of your thermostat, if you can.

#3. Watery Eyes

common eye problems in winter

On the opposite end of the spectrum, another one of the common eye problems in winter is watery eyes. While some people find that winter weather dries their eyes out, others find that their eyes produce an excessive amount of tears in an effort to stay protected. Like dry eyes, watery eyes result from decreased levels of moisture in the air. 

Symptoms of watery eyes include:

  • Excessive watering, of course.
  • Infection, from using dirty clothes to wipe away tears
  • Blocked tear ducts
  • Blurry vision

How You Can Help It

Many people find that their watery eyes stop being a problem once they go inside. Wearing glasses or sunglasses can reduce the likelihood of tearing.

However, sometimes people need treatment in order to find relief. Consult with your doctor in order to determine the best course of action for you, personally.

Some of the treatment options for watery eyes include:

  • Medications.
  • Removal of foreign objects.
  • Opening blocked tear ducts.
  • Eyelid repair, in extreme cases where your eyelid is sagging

If your watery eyes don’t go away and cause you pain and impact your ability to see clearly, you should contact your eye doctor.

Prescription Glasses, Sunglasses, And More To Protect Your Eye Health This Winter

common eye problems in winter

Wolcott Optical can help you protect your eyes from these common eye problems in winter with our quality eyewear. If you love going outside and getting the most out of the snow, you may benefit from prescription sunglasses or prescription safety glasses. If you want to be able to alternate between contact lenses and glasses, we carry a wide selection of many different frames so that you can select a pair that suit you. 

To learn more about our eyewear and how it can protect you from common eye problems in winter, please don’t hesitate to contact us today!

Millcreek UT Eyeglasses

If you typically wear glasses rather than contact lenses or vice versa, you may assume that getting a pair of the other would be as easy as calling your eye doctor and ordering them. This isn’t so, though. Unless you’ve tried to do this or you use both glasses and contact lenses, you may not know that glasses and contact lens prescriptions are not the same. 

You need a separate prescription for glasses and for contact lenses due to some seemingly minute but significant differences between the two. If you wear contact lenses, your eye doctor may already provide you with a glasses prescription. However, this is not always the case.

Here is what you need to know about the differences between glasses and contact lens prescriptions, and what to do if you want to try the other type of lenses out.

Why Are Glasses And Contact Lens Prescriptions Different?

If you’re surprised to learn that glasses and contact lens prescriptions are different, you’re not alone. Many people assume that a prescription is a prescription, and that if you already have glasses, you should be able to get contacts with ease.

Glasses and contact lens prescriptions are different due to how you wear them. Glasses sit on the bridge of your nose, about 12 millimeters away from your eyes. Contact lenses are worn directly on your cornea. Because of the difference in how far away they are from your eyes and how you wear them, they require separate prescriptions.   

How Are Glasses And Contact Lens Prescriptions Different?

Glasses and contact lens prescriptions are different in more ways than you may expect! Here are some of the chief ways in which they differ. 

contact lenses Salt Lake City Utah

For Contacts

Because you wear contact lenses on your eyes, a contact lens prescription needs to be fitted to the size and shape of your eye. They don’t just need to have the lens strength, they also need to be fitted to your individual eyes so that they are comfortable. Different people have differently shaped and sized eyes, which impacts the contacts they wear. 

Different people also have different demands of their contacts: for instance, one person might need more breathability in their lenses because they wear them for long periods of time or accidentally fall asleep in them from time to time. This is why when you get contact lenses, your eye doctor may have you try out different brands and then include the brand that works best for you on your prescription. 

For Glasses

Since you wear glasses at a slight distance from your eyes, glasses prescriptions need your pupillary distance (the distance between your pupils), so you don’t have to worry about crossing your eyes or anything like that. Glasses prescriptions are often weaker than contact lens prescriptions due to the fact that the space between their lenses and your eyes leads to a change in prescription strength. 

While your contact lens prescription includes how they should fit, when you purchase glasses, the people you purchase them from will have you try different frames on and ask how they feel. They may make adjustments to the frames in order to help them fit you better. You may opt for one pair of frames over another, due to style, fit, and price.

What Do You Do If You Want To Get Another Prescription?

glasses and contact lens prescriptions

If you’re an avid glasses or contacts wearer and you want to give the other type of lens a go, you’ll likely need to make an appointment with your eye doctor. Sometimes, when you have your yearly eye exam, your eye doctor will fit you for both contacts and glasses and provide you with both prescriptions. However, state laws vary, and you may need to have different appointments to be fitted. 

If you want to try out contacts, you will need a contact lens fitting. This is so that the eye doctor can ensure they are fitted to your eyes and will be comfortable for you. 

  • About colored contacts. It’s important to note that even if you do not need corrective lenses, if you want to try out colored contacts, you will still need a contact lens prescription. A prescription without lens strength like this is a plano prescription. If you buy colored contacts from a store that does not require a prescription, you could suffer many adverse effects. Learn more about this in our previous blog: Colored Contacts And Your Eyes: Keep Your Eyes Safe This Halloween. 

If you want to try out glasses, you will need to be fitted for these too, with your pupillary difference. The parameters on glasses prescriptions can differ from contact prescriptions. If you want to try plano glasses, or glasses without corrective lenses, you can just pick these up in a store, as they do not carry the risks that non-prescription colored contacts do.

Wolcott Optical is here to help you with your glasses and contact lens needs. Contact us today to learn more about the services we can provide you with. 

Screens have become a normal part of our daily lives. Whether you’re someone who likes the internet and the digital world or you’re someone who only puts up with it when you have to, we’re all exposed to blue light from our screens on a regular basis. It’s known that sunlight can cause eye strain, especially when it’s especially bright outside. But what about blue light?

Here’s what you need to know about blue light, digital eye strain, and what you can do to protect your eyes. 

What Is Blue Light?

blue light digital eye strain

Blue light doesn’t just come from our screens. It’s a type of electromagnetic wave, one with very short and high-energy wavelengths. When it comes from the sun, it helps to regulate your circadian rhythm and can boost your mood and your energy levels. 

It can also come from screens, due to LED (light-emitting diode) technology. Your phone, laptop, TV, and more all emit high levels of this light, due to said LED technologies. 

Is Blue Light Bad For You?

As previously mentioned, this type of light can actually be quite beneficial for your overall mood and energy levels, and ergo, your health. It helps to tell your body when it’s time to go to sleep and when it’s time to wake up.

However, with the advent of technology, people have been exposed to blue light from unnatural sources. This can lead to negative effects, such as an impacted sleep schedule, headaches, eye strain, fatigue, and more.

So, in short, no, during the day, it is not bad for you. However, too much of it, especially at night, can lead to adverse health effects. 

About Digital Eye Strain

Whether you love technology or you hate it, using it has been a necessary part of the vast majority of people’s daily lives. Whether you need your phone in order to contact people or you work an office job that necessitates staring at a computer screen for 8 hours a day, even if you don’t use digital devices recreationally, for social media or watching videos or whatever else, we’re all using screens, and we’re all exposed to high levels of blue light. 

In truth, the amount of light that is emitted from our devices is small, compared to how much the sun sends out. However, if you spend a lot of time on digital devices, your eyes get exposed to abnormal amounts of this type of light. This, combined with the amount of focus needed in order to focus on a screen, can lead to eye strain. 

Eye strain can cause a variety of problems, from blurry vision to dry and itchy eyes to headaches and more. Some studies have shown an increased risk for macular degeneration with blue light. 

If your eyes hurt after looking at a screen, it’s a good idea to adhere to the “20-20-20 rule”. This means that every 20 minutes, you look at something 20 feet away (that isn’t a screen) for 20 seconds. This can help to stave off the risk of eye strain.

Blue Light Glasses - Wolcott Optical

Can Blue Light Blocking Glasses Help With Digital Eye Strain?

You would think so! However, there isn’t a clear consensus on how much these glasses can actually help with this type of eye strain. Some people claim that such glasses can do wonders for your eyes, while others claim that they don’t do much at all. 

However, this type of glasses can help with your circadian rhythm. This is because through filtering out blue light, you can enjoy some protection from some of the adverse effects of overexposure to blue light, such as insomnia. 

Some people do report that using blue light blocking glasses improve their eye comfort when using screens for extended periods of time. If you have any questions about eye strain from digital devices and what you can do to prevent it, you can talk to your eye doctor at your next eye exam about your specific circumstances.

Generally, combining the 20-20-20 rule with blue light blocking glasses and reduced use of digital devices at night time can reduce some of the negative effects of too much screen time.

Are You Considering Blue Light Blocking Glasses?

Wolcott Optical provides them in a wide variety of styles, so that you can select a pair that suits your specific style and personality. You don’t need a prescription for this type of glasses, so if you already have 20-20 vision, that doesn’t mean that these are not an option for you. To learn more about blue light blocking glasses, please do not hesitate to contact us today!

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