Dry eye relief in Boston, Massachusetts

In Boston, dry eyes come from a mix of ocean wind and dry indoor heat. NOAA’s Logan Airport records show about 92 freezing nights a year, so radiators and furnaces run from November into April, while nor’easters push cold wind off the water. Aiming heat away from your face, a humidifier, screen breaks and a lubricating drop used as labeled help with everyday dryness. Ongoing symptoms need an eye doctor.

Boston’s climate, from the Logan Airport record

Boston’s official station is at Logan International Airport, on filled land in East Boston only about 12 feet above sea level, with the harbor on three sides. NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals there show a winter shaped by the ocean:

• A January normal high of 36.8°F and a low of 23.1°F, milder than inland Massachusetts.
• About 92 nights a year at 32°F or colder.
• Roughly 23 days a year when the high stays at or below freezing.
• 49.2 inches of snow in a typical winter, split almost evenly between January (14.3 inches) and February (14.4 inches).
• 43.6 inches of precipitation spread through the year, with December the wettest month at 4.30 inches.

The ocean keeps Boston’s winter humidity remarkably steady. NOAA’s table shows afternoon relative humidity at Logan staying between 55 and 59 percent in every month of the year, with April lowest at 55 percent. The air outside rarely gets very dry or very damp. Most of the drying happens after it’s heated.

Nor’easters and wind off the harbor

The National Weather Service describes nor’easters as coastal storms named for the strong northeasterly winds they drive ashore, and Boston sits right in their path. Even on ordinary winter days, the waterfront, the Seaport and the bridges over the Charles take wind that the narrow streets of Beacon Hill don’t.

Wind speeds up evaporation from the surface of the eye, and cold wind does it faster. That’s why eyes can water on the walk across the Longfellow Bridge and then feel scratchy an hour later at a desk. Wraparound sunglasses, a hat brim and turning your back to gusts at a crosswalk all reduce the load.

Radiator heat in Boston apartments

A lot of the city lives in triple-deckers, brownstones and prewar brick buildings heated by steam or hot-water radiators. Tenants often can’t control them, and some apartments run so warm that windows get cracked in January. Steam heat doesn’t add moisture to a room; it just warms the dry air already there.

• Put a humidifier in the bedroom and clean it on the schedule its maker gives.
• Keep the bed and the desk chair a few feet back from the radiator.
• A shallow pan of water on a radiator is a common old-building habit; keep it out of reach of kids and pets and change the water often.
• Turn ceiling and box fans away from your face at night.
• If your building runs hot, a cracked window over a heated radiator dries the room further; a humidifier does more.

Commuting on the T in a winter coat

A Boston winter commute often means a cold platform at Park Street or a windy wait for a bus, then a crowded, heated car with the heater blowing at seat level. Bundled in a coat and scarf, scrolling a phone, most riders blink less than usual. Then comes an office or a lab in Kendall Square with forced-air heat and two monitors.

• Read less on your phone on the train, or look up at the window every few stops.
• Loosen a scarf that’s pushing warm, dry breath up toward your eyes.
• At work, check whether a ceiling vent blows across your face, and ask to have it redirected.
• Set a 20-minute screen reminder and blink fully when it goes off.

How Quell fits in

Quell is an over-the-counter lubricating drop. The label’s Uses line reads: For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. Its directions read: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. It’s designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss, the part of the tear film that dry, heated rooms work against.

The label gives a storage range (Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F)) and a handling rule (Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination). A coat pocket on the Red Line is fine; a car left on a Southie street through a January cold snap may not be, so bring the bottle inside. If you wear contact lenses, the label doesn’t address using it with them; ask your eye doctor first.

Ordering to Boston and seeing a doctor

Quell ships to Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and the rest of the state from Brentwood, Tennessee, with no account needed. There’s no promised delivery date, and apartment buildings vary in how they handle packages, so use your unit number and reorder early. See the Boston page and the Massachusetts page for local details.

Boston has no shortage of eye doctors, and dryness that keeps returning is worth bringing to one. Working out the cause and what to do about it is their job, not a drop’s. The label says: Stop use and ask a doctor if you feel eye pain or changes in your vision, if irritation or redness continues, or if the condition worsens or persists for 72 hours. See eye symptoms that need a doctor before you decide to wait.