You most likely know that it is best to shield your eyes through the summer time, however do you know that it is best to shield your eyes through the winter too?

Cold, dry air and vivid daylight in Houston can injury your eyes and have an effect on your eyesight.

This winter, shield your eyes with these straightforward ideas from Dr. Sami El Hage & Dr. Sylvie El Hage.

1. Wear UV-A or UV-B Sunglasses, Even On Cloudy Winter Days

Harmful high-energy ultraviolet (UV) rays can penetrate via clouds, even on the shortest, cloudiest days of winter. Furthermore, the sunshine reflecting off snow will be considerably brighter than the sunshine mirrored by water. In truth, snow displays about 80 p.c of the sunshine that hits it, whereas water displays solely as much as 65 p.c of daylight.

At its worst, solar glare from snow can really burn unprotected eyes to trigger snow blindness, a painful situation that ends in sensitivity to gentle. Exposure to solar glare also can make it really feel like you may have sand in your eyes. The signs of snow blindness can last as long as every week.

2. Wear a Hat

Wear a wide-brimmed hat to maintain UV rays off your face and out of your eyes.

3. Wear Eye Protection

Eye accidents occur within the winter too. Protect your eyes from damage whereas shoveling snow, placing up seasonal decorations on your home, or doing winter yard work.

4. Keep Eyes Moist with Eye Drops

Dry outside air, warmth from a furnace or hearth, wind, and circulating indoor air can evaporate your tears to trigger dry, itchy eyes. This will be significantly uncomfortable for those who already undergo from dry eye, a power situation through which your physique doesn’t produce sufficient pure tears to lubricate your eyes. Use synthetic tears or different eye drops to maintain your eyes moist. Deflect air blowing from furnace vents; use a humidifier to place moisture into room air.

5. Practice good hygiene

Pinkeye, also referred to as conjunctivitis, is extra frequent within the winter. Like a chilly, pinkeye is a contagious illness that spreads a virus or micro organism from individual to individual. The situation spreads via contact, so locations like elevator buttons and doorknobs can harbor the micro organism or virus. Conjunctivitis may even unfold from considered one of your eyes to the opposite.
To shield your eyes from the elevated danger of pinkeye within the winter, wash your palms ceaselessly and keep away from touching your eyes. If you do develop pinkeye, make an appointment together with your eye physician for therapy of conjunctivitis.

6. Visit your optometrist

Protect your eyes by making an appointment with an optometrist, who can take a look at your imaginative and prescient, diagnose imaginative and prescient issues, present therapy for some eye situations, and handle imaginative and prescient adjustments. Your optometrist can diagnose winter-related eye issues akin to dry and conjunctivitis, for instance, and supply therapy for a lot of eye situations related to winter. Your optometrist also can carry out preventive screening that detects imaginative and prescient issues early, whereas eye ailments are most conscious of therapy.

For extra info on defending your eyes through the chilly season, seek the advice of with Dr. Sami El Hage or Dr. Sylvie El Hage, who can prescribe eye drops that deal with dry eye, and advocate sun shades or goggles to guard your eyes from hurt this winter. Happy Holidays from all of us at Eye Care Associates!