Dry Eyes at night

Dry eyes at night is not to be taken lightly. For many people, dry eye pain at night can be very difficult to tolerate. Some may require to use ophthalmic gel ointment or artificial tears many times every night.

Many reasons could explain why you have dry eyes at night. The first thing to do is to check with your doctor. Only him is a professional healthcare that can give you personal advises that suits your personal situation. Always follow your doctor recommendations at all time, no matter what you see on the internet.

Contact lenses and dry eyes do not go along very well together. If you experience dry eyes at night, make sure to always remember to remove contact lenses prior to bed. You should never sleep with your contact lenses. Personally, I stopped using contact lenses many years ago when my dry eye problems started, but that’s my personal choice. If you wish to continue to wear contact lenses and you have dry eyes, you should discuss about it with your doctor.

Dry Eyes at night – Artificial tears and gel ointments

Dry eyes at night may require that you use gel ointment for your eyes right before bedtime. You will probably require to use more viscous gel ointments since they need to last for a longer time on the ocular surface during the night. The more viscous the ointment is, the more thicker it is. If you use this type of ophthalmic lubrication, make sure that you use those without conservatives since these products stays for a long time in contact with your eyes.

Reduce air movement when you have dry eyes at night

Dry Eyes at night – No ceiling fans

Make sure that the ceiling fans, heat dry air and A/C air at not directed toward your eyes. If you have a fan right over your bed, you should turn it off. By turning it off, you are reducing air movement in your bedroom helping to slow down tears evaporation. This is particularly true if for any reason you are not closing eyelids completely during your sleep. You may not be aware of it, but if that’s the case, chances are that you do not know it. The problem is that by not closing eyelids completely, eyes can become dramatically dry. If you have a ceiling fan running over your head and causing air turbulence, you will dry your eyes even more.

Dry Eyes at night – Moisture chambers to retain moisture

Dry Eyes at night – Moisture chambers

Based on what we just said, the objective will be to offer a night protection for your eyes. As a home treatment for your dry eyes at night, moisture chambers can be very helpful to manage and minimize your dry eye discomforts at night. Many products exists on the market but basically moisture chambers retains moisture helping to keep the eye lubricated. So if your eyes tend to dry out during the night, the use of moisture chamber can really help you to alleviate dry eye symptoms at night and making your dry eyes at night only a bad souvenir. It may not completely cure your night time discomfort but certainly help you! Having eyes rested and lubricated during the night can make you have a lot less symptoms during the next day making you feel a lot better. What I like to do, is to put eye drops in my eyes right before wearing my moisture chamber. This will help to higher up the humidity inside the mask giving your eyes a soothing moisture therapy during the night. So when you wake up the next day, your eyes are rested and they had a chance to heal from the damages caused by dryness on the ocular surface.

Dry eyes at night – Moisture chambers

Dry Eyes at night – “Saranwrap”

You don’t have to buy a moisture chamber if you don’t want to. You can make your own moisture chamber at home by using “saranwrap”. It takes more time and motivation to do it every night since you can’t use the same saranwrap piece twice. You have to change it every day. It takes time but it works. You can increase the humidity in the moisture chamber by spraying water on the saranwrap and/or by putting artificial tears or gel ointment without preservatives right before you put on the saranwrap. This will help you to put your eyes in a “extra” moisture level giving them a chance to heal from dryness. Want to know more about this dry eyes at night treatment ? Click on the picture on the left.

Dry eyes at night – Increase humidifier in your house

Dry Eyes at night – Relative humidity

Relative humidity is the amount of water vapor present in air expressed as a percentage of the amount needed for saturation at the same temperature. The more the relative humidity will be higher in your bedroom while your at sleep, the less the tear evaporation will be. To achieve that, you may need to use a humidifier. If you want to know the relative humidity level in your bedroom, you can use a hygrometer that you can find almost anywhere. It is not expensive and may help you to determine if you need to buy or use your humidifier.  I always manage to have relative humidity level between 40% and 50%. If your hygrometer indicates humidity lower than 20% it is definitively too dry and you need to raise up the humidity level in your house. Humidity level is always lower during winter time. By heating your house you are drying your air. You must then compensate by adding moisture to the air and this could be done with a humidifier. You will find different kind of humidifier on the market, some are using warm mist and other is cool mist. It is a question of personal choice since they all have their pros and cons.

Dry Eyes at night – Sleeping eye mask

Dry Eyes at night – Sleeping eye mask

Dry eyes at night treatment can also include a sleeping eye mask. Keep in mind that not all sleeping eye masks are moisture chambers. But they can certainly help you by acting as a barrier between your eyes and the environment. The mask on the left picture is in my opinion the most comfortable sleeping mask on the market. Indeed, the shape of the mask ensures that the eyes are not in contact with the mask, which provides an optimal comfort because no pressure is exerted on the eye.

 Dry Eyes at night – Eye MakeUp remover

Dry Eyes at night – Remove your makeup prior going to bed

Another very important thing is to always remove eye makeup prior going to bed. You should never sleep with make up on your eyes such as eyeliners or mascara. Due to makeup particles present on the pillow, a growth of bacteria can occur and obviously you understand why you do not need that for your eyes… MakeUp can also dry out and flake. The flakes can fall in your eyes or eyelid irritating your eyes even more. Even if you are using our makeup made for sensitive eyes, you should always take it off before going to bed. When you are removing your makeup, make sure that you are using a makeup remover appropriate for your condition. You can use eyelids cleansers such as Ocusoft Lid Scrub or a MakeUp remover made for sensitive eyes. Shop online at the Dry Eyes Store for your next eye makeup. Click on the picture if you want to know more about it.