If you work in an office, the chances are that you suffer regularly from dry, tired eyes.
It could be something you experience occasionally and so it's not a problem, but for many people it can be extremely uncomfortable, even resulting in having to give up their job.
This is particularly true if you are prone to dry eyes for medical reasons, or if you wear contact lenses.
Why are so many people suffering from dry eyes at work?
There are two main reasons:
- the typical office environment is climate controlled. The combination of air conditioning and heating systems dries the air and this in turn increases the loss of tear moisture due to evaporation.
- most people spend much of their day looking at a computer screen. When we do so, we tend to stare at the screen and reduce our blink rate. This means that the eyes are not regularly being refreshed by tear moisture and this leads to uncomfortable, sore eyes.
Is there anything that I can do to reduce dry eye soreness at work?
There's probably not much you can do to change your working practices and environment, except taking frequent breaks from the computer (if this is possible!) or get a blink reminder app installed.
A cost-effective remedy for dry eye relief which uses natural tears rather than artificial drops, is to get yourself a pair of Ziena glasses and wear them when you are using the computer.
These special glasses significantly reduce the evaporation of your tear moisture because they have an eye cup fitted behind the front of the frames that creates a moisture chamber around your eyes.
There are currently two different styles of glasses, and a choice of frame colour. They can be supplied with clear lenses or, if you need prescription lenses, these can be fitted by your optician or an independent optical glazing service like Ciliary Blue.
Find out more about glasses for dry eyes
- How moisture chamber glasses work
- See the Ziena Eyewear range
- Read about the research on moisture chamber glasses
- Read customer feedback on these glasses