I Fly to Work

Update: avoiding dry eyes after a flight

Yesterday's plan worked.  I woke up with my left eye just feeling slightly gritty. No red eye, at all.

I can't remember the last flight that didn't result in sore eyes the next day.  This is great progress!  I still think I'll try a lubricating eye drop on my next tip.  I'm curious how much difference I'll feel compared to the artifical tears. 

 

Dry Air on Airplanes: red eyes without flying the redeye

It never fails.  The morning after a plane flight I wake up with tired, dry eyes.  Every. single. time.

According to The Dry Eye Zone, I'm not the only one.  Airplane air is notoriously dry.  As well, the fresh air vents seem to aim directly at our faces.  And of course, we travelers tend to consume more caffiene and alcohol that we likely should.

I'm going to see if I can wake up tomorrow without sore eyes.  (I'm currently on a 2-leg flight from Spokane to NYC).  Here's my plan:

• Only one time through the Starbucks line and no additional coffee on the plane.
• Drink at least two glasses of water on each leg of the flight.  (The Dry Eye Zone says internal dehydration contributes to dry eyes.)
• Apply artificial tears before and after each leg
• Turn off the direct air vent

If this doesn't work I'll try using lubricating eye drops instead of artificial tears on the return flight.

I'll report in tomorrow with the results.