Summer Eye Care | How Summer Can Affect Your Eyes

When you think about handling the hot summer weather, what pops into your head first? For most people, it’s all about drinking enough water, making sure their skin is protected from the sun, and generally keeping cool. However, the impact of heat on our eyes is frequently overlooked, and this is where summer eye care becomes essential.

Our eyes are often one of the first parts of our body to feel the impact of this heat. That intense summer sun, in particular, can be extremely severe on them. While pink eye (conjunctivitis) is a very common problem, you might also find yourself dealing with other issues, like corneal burns, dry eyes, styes, or other eye allergies as the warm months continue.

This means it’s really important to give your eyes some extra care and attention during this time of year. In short, practicing summer eye care can help prevent long-term damage and seasonal discomfort.

Heat and Your Vision | Is There a Connection?

When heatwaves hit, our minds often go to climate change and its impact on the environment. But what about how these rising temperatures affect our health, particularly our vision?

A recent study, published in Ophthalmic Epidemiology, looked into this. The findings suggest that higher average temperatures are pretty consistently linked to a greater chance of having severe vision problems. This connection was seen across multiple groups, regardless of sex, race, age, income, or education level.

To give you an idea, people living in areas with an average temperature of 60°F (15.5°C) or higher had a 44% greater likelihood of severe vision impairment compared to those in areas where the average was below 50°F (or less than 10°C).

Researchers point out that we need more studies around the world to figure out if hotter temperatures can actually cause vision loss. This is especially important because projections indicate global average temperatures will climb by about 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2100, and we’re also seeing an increasingly aging population worldwide. That makes summer eye care even more relevant, especially for those already managing age-related eye conditions.

How Summer’s Heat Affects Your Eyes 

Most of us look forward to summertime, which often means enjoyable vacations, longer daylight hours, and delicious treats like ice cream and mangoes.

When you’re applying sunscreen to protect your skin from the sun, do you also consider how the warm weather impacts your eyes? If you wear sunglasses, it’s worth checking if they truly offer enough protection against strong UV rays — a basic yet needed step in summer eye care.

It’s important to remember that, along with the pleasant parts of this season, increased heat, more intense UV light, and dry air, all these factors can directly affect your eye health, sometimes in harmful ways.

– UV Rays:

One common problem the sun’s UV rays can cause for eyes is photokeratitis, which many people call a “sunburn of the eye”. This happens when UV rays burn the cornea, the clear front part of your eye, causing redness, pain, tearing, and that scratchy, gritty feeling.

Long-term exposure to UV light is also a well-known risk factor for developing cataracts. This is a condition where the natural lens inside your eye becomes cloudy, which makes your vision blurry.

Furthermore, UV damage can speed up age-related macular degeneration, a serious condition that results in vision loss in the central part of what you see.

Another potential issue is pterygium, which is a growth of tissue that appears on the white part of the eye. If this growth spreads to the cornea and isn’t treated, it can lead to vision problems. Proper summer eye care, including protective eyewear, can help reduce these risks.

– Tired Eyes:

If your summer plans have you going non-stop, you might find your eyes feeling more tired than they usually do. For many, making the most of the season can mean cutting back on much-needed sleep, and that can leave your eyes feeling irritated and worn out.

When your eyes feel tired, the best thing you can do is give them a real break by making sure you get enough sleep. And it’s a good move to reduce your screen time with digital devices, since they tend to strain tired eyes further, rather than making them feel better.

Fatigue is a commonly overlooked part of summer eye care, but it’s just as important.

– Dehydration & Eye Dryness:

It’s easy to become dehydrated, and this doesn’t just affect how your whole body feels, because your eyes can really suffer too. When your body doesn’t have enough water, it can reduce tear production, which then causes the uncomfortable feeling of dry eyes.

A few common summer situations, like exposure to wind, spending time in air-conditioned spaces, looking at screens for long stretches, or prolonged sun exposure, can worsen this problem. It’s also true that we spend a lot of time looking at digital screens these days, whether it’s for work or for fun, and this is a BIG contributor to dry eye problems.

You might be experiencing dry eyes if you notice a stinging or burning sensation, if your eyes look red and feel irritated, or if it feels like there’s something gritty stuck in them.

Blurred vision and increased sensitivity to light are also common signs, and it’s significant to address dry eyes. This isn’t just about avoiding discomfort, because if left untreated, the problem can eventually damage the surface of your eye. These are exactly the types of issues that a solid summer eye care routine can help prevent.

– Allergies:

Many people think eye allergies are mainly a springtime problem, but they can definitely still be an issue during the summer. This is because certain types of plant pollens, seeds, and even molds are more common as the warmer months go on.

Eye allergies can be quite uncomfortable, and you’ll likely notice this through symptoms like itchy eyes, a burning sensation, or dryness.

If you struggle with eye allergies, try to limit your contact with whatever triggers them. Wearing polarized sunglasses when you’re outside can help, and it’s also wise to wash your face as soon as you get back indoors. Even changing your clothes can make a difference.

Beyond these steps, there are many allergy treatments available, both over-the-counter and by prescription, that can offer relief. Of course, these should be part of any complete summer eye care strategy.

Summer Eye Care Tips for Protecting Your Eyes

To help keep your eyes safe from the intense summer conditions, we’re going to cover some important things you should and shouldn’t do — key parts of summer eye care that are easy to follow.

– What You Should Do:

• Always protect your eyes from the summer heat by wearing high-quality sunglasses that block both UVA and UVB rays. Adding a hat can give you even more protection.
  
• Make sure your eyes stay moist.
  
• Always practice good hand hygiene by washing your hands regularly.
  
• Keep your whole body hydrated by drinking a lot of water.
  
• If you go swimming, take accessories to protect your eyes while you’re in the water.
  

– What You Should Avoid:

• Try not to rub your eyes, as this can easily transfer irritants to your eyes or make any current problems feel even worse.
  
• Be extra careful not to touch your eyes with dirty hands, especially if you’re dealing with something like a stye.
  
• If you think you might have an eye infection, never try to treat it on your own; always see a doctor.
  
• Try to keep air from air conditioners or fans from blowing directly into your eyes, as this can make them dry out faster.