About a year ago, I found out that there is such a thing as ‘dry eye glasses’. For those who are scratching their heads at this, yes, these glasses are meant for people with dry eyes. I’m glad that I gave these glasses a try because they have made my day to day life a heck of a lot easier. You can find a great variety of them based on your specific requirements. You can buy them here if you live in North America or here if you live in the U.K. I personally use the Zienna Nereus, but reviews for the Airshield, Airdam, Onion Goggles, and Outfitter are also great.
As I mentioned in another post, I have suffered from Meibomian Gland Disease and all the symptoms that come packaged with it such as blepharitis, styes, chalazions, and severe dry eyes. I also happen to live in one of the driest cities in Canada, the City of Calgary. Winters in Calgary are harsh with plenty of snow but the precipitation doesn’t really help. The extreme cold requires indoor heating 24/7 which is typically through forced air heated in a natural gas furnace and the heated air leads to extreme dryness indoors. The summers in Calgary are nice and warm but extremely windy. Although indoors are comfortably humid in the summer, wind gusts make it quite uncomfortable for the dry eye sufferers to enjoy the nice weather outdoors. Plus, I work in a multi storey office building staring at a computer screen for 9 hours, where regardless of the weather outside, the relative humidity inside never exceeds 25%. Most days it is under 20%. The Sahara Desert experiences days with higher humidity than my office building.
I have been using Hylo gel and Optimel through out the day for dry eyes but these drops wouldn’t be as effective without the dry eye glasses. I use these glasses only when I’m outdoors in dry windy conditions or at work where the indoors are uncomfortably dry. I don’t need to wear these glasses at home because I have a humidifier installed with my furnace which keeps the house comfortably humid, around 35-50% at all times. So, before you decide to buy them, please read the pros and cons below to ensure that they are right for you.
Pros
1. As mentioned above, they do keep your eyes moist by holding moisture in the chamber around your eyes. They work by slowing down the rate at which your eyes lose moisture and decreases the rate at which your tear film breaks down.
2. They are perfect for people who suffer from dry eyes and enjoy being outdoors such as cycling, skiing, etc. These glasses shield you from the wind quite well.
3. They are great for office workers who need to be in large enclosed spaces where the buildings are designed to recycle air at a high rate which sucks the air dry of moisture. Many buildings have humidifiers built in to mitigate this effect, so check the humidity levels at your workplace. If it is less than 25%, you will find these glasses very helpful.
4. They can be useful for people with other eye conditions such as allergies, Sjögren’s syndrome etc.
Cons
1. They don’t look very pretty.
2. The glasses can block your peripheral vision, depending on the type you buy.
3. They can be quite expensive depending on which kind you buy.
Very informative! I found something important in this article. I have dry eyes and I found a lot of information about dry eye from this article. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Harvey. I’m glad you found it helpful.