Texas tops the charts for the driest environment to live if you suffer from dry eyes. A recent survey ranked cities across the country looking for the “perfect” environment to cause dry eyes and here are the results: data from www.eyecaresource.com
According to The National Women’s Health Resource Center:
| 1. Las Vegas, NV
2. Lubbock, TX |
26. Providence, RI 27. St. Louis, MO 28. Greater Cincinnati, OH 29. Cleveland, OH 30. Fresno, CA 31. Tulsa, OK 32. Miami, FL 33. San Antonio, TX 34. Charlotte, NC 35. Sacramento, CA 36. Colorado Springs, CO 37. Boise, ID 38. Detroit, MI 39. Orlando, FL, 40. Louisville, KY 41. Memphis, TN 42. Allentown, PA 43. Hartford, CN 44. Austin, TX 45. Raleigh, NC 46. Tampa, FL 47. Pueblo, CO 48. Springfield, MO 49. Akron, OH 50. Knoxville, TN |
Why these cities:
Your environment plays a big role in how comfortable your eyes feel. Sometimes this can even mean moving to a new house. I’ve recently seen a patient who really started suffering more since moving because of the quality of air and also the change in the heat source between his old and new home.
- Temperatures- Extreme temps, both hot and cold can cause significant irritation to your eye. Perfect example: my eyes water on a cold winter day!
- Humidity- Areas with little to no humidity causes a lot of discomfort if you’ve been diagnosed with dry eye. A humidifier will help the situation. I encourage my patients to use one in the bedroom while sleeping and they notice improvement in comfort in the am.
- Wind- Wind will dry the surface of the eye very quickly usually resulting in tearing/watery eyes.
- Altitude- Higher altitudes have lower amount of oxygen resulting in dry eye.
- Pollutants- Pollutants like smoke, smog, and exhaust fumes are irritating to the eyes.
Other contributing factors for dry eyes:
- Ocular allergens- a dry eye is more suseptable to allergens because they stick to the surface more and sometimes are not flushed from the eye as well. Itching is also mistakened as allergy but is a very common symptom for dry eye.
- Indoor air quality- This can be relieved with the help of an air purifier.
- Contact lenses- Most people with dry eyes refuse to wear contacts because of the irritation of having something in their eye is too much to handle. Proteins more easily build up on the lenses. A great cleaning system- Clear Care- a good first step in getting rid of these proteins.
- Medications- High blood pressure medications, antidepressants, heart medications, antihistamines, decongestants, muscle relaxants, sleeping pills, pain relievers and drugs for Parkinson’s disease and gastric ulcers, and hormone therapy, particularly estrogen therapy can often make your dry eye symptoms worse.
- Computer use- Sitting in front of the computer for extended periods of time, whether it’s for work or leisure, can dry your eyes out. People using the computer too much forget to blink, and the less you blink the dryer your eyes become. Good rule of thumb is to take a short (2-3 sec) break for every 20-30 min spent on the computer during your work day.
