Most people understand the importance of protecting their skin against the sun. Unfortunately, few remember to protect their eyes during dry and hot weather. You need to pay close attention to your eyes when the temperature is on the rise. Eyes are highly vulnerable to hot and dry conditions.

How Heat Can Affect Vision

Staying out in the sun too long can affect your vision. Lack of moisture due to dehydration can make it difficult for your eyes to produce tears naturally. This can lead to seasonal dry eye. If you already suffer from dry eye syndrome, hot and dry conditions can worsen your symptoms of irritated, sore, red, and itchy eyes.

You may decide to sit in front of an air-conditioning system or fan to escape the heat. Although it may feel awesome at the time, it can also contribute to dryer eyes. You may want to keep artificial tears on hand to give your eyes some much-needed temporary relief.

Some of the hot weather eye conditions that impact individuals of all ages include:

• Eye allergies: Hot weather and high levels of pollutants and irritants in the air increase the risk of developing eye allergies. Symptoms may include itching, redness, and burning sensation.
• Dry eyes: Hot and dry conditions can cause tears to evaporate quickly, which can lead to dry eye symptoms such as tearing, burning sensation, irritation, and redness.
• Styes: This is a bacterial infection of the eyelids. Symptoms include swelling around the eyelids, redness, and pain. This condition is quite common in kids; however, adults are also more susceptible to it during the hot and dry season.
• Conjunctivitis: During the summer, this condition, caused by a bacterial and viral infection, is more common. Symptoms include watery eyes, discharge, redness, and foreign body sensation. If you or someone in your home has conjunctivitis, you need to understand that it is highly contagious. It can pass from one person to another through contact or sharing things such as cosmetics, pillow sheets, and towels.

How to Protect Your Eyes

As long as you take a few simple steps to protect your eyes during hot and dry weather, you can still have tons of fun in the sun.

Wear Sunglasses

You probably understand the importance of protecting your skin from UV radiation. Do you know that you protect your eyes as well? Ultraviolet radiation comes from the sun. It may reflect off certain surfaces, such as sand or water. To protect your eyes from UVR, you should wear sunglasses with 100 percent ultraviolet protection while outdoors. You may want to wear a wide-brimmed hat as well.

Wear Goggles While Swimming

Few things feel better than taking a dip in the pool during hot and dry weather. Swimming pools, however, can be tough on the eyes due to the chemicals used to keep the water clean. These chemicals can tear the film that keeps your eyes healthy and moist, which can result in blurry vision, gritty feeling in the eyes, and redness.

Other ways to protect your eyes during hot and dry weather include:

• Avoid smoking.
• Prevent dry eye.
• Wash your hands and avoid rubbing your eyes.
• Drink plenty of water and eat healthily.
• Use eye drops.
• Get adequate sleep.

To learn more about eye health, visit Insight Eyecare at our office in Las Vegas, Nevada. You can also call (702) 718-7163 to book an appointment today.