Dry eye relief in Midland, Texas

Midland is one of the drier cities in Texas: about 13.5 inches of precipitation a year, spring afternoons in the mid-30s for humidity, and more than 115 days a year at 90°F or hotter. To ease dry eyes there, keep truck vents off your face, wear sealed sunglasses in wind, take screen breaks, and use a lubricating drop exactly as its label says. Pain or vision changes need an eye doctor.

How dry is Midland, Texas?

Very dry by Texas standards. NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals for the airport weather station that serves Midland and Odessa put the year’s precipitation at 13.51 inches. Houston gets close to four times that. The details show where the dry stretches fall:

• December, January and February bring 1.83 inches between them, so winter is the driest season.
• February averages 0.58 inches and December 0.59, the two lowest months on the calendar.
• Most of the rain comes from late spring into early fall, with June the wettest month at 1.80 inches.
• Snowfall is light, about 4.3 inches in a normal year.
• The station sits at 874.2 meters, close to 2,870 feet, on the flat caprock of the Permian Basin.

Spring wind and the driest afternoons

NOAA’s relative humidity table for Midland-Odessa shows the driest afternoons in spring, not summer. April averages 34 percent, March 36 and May 37. Summer afternoons sit around 41 to 42 percent because that’s when most of the rain falls. Across the year, mornings average 72 percent and afternoons 42, so the drop between breakfast and mid-afternoon is large every season.

Wind makes low humidity worse, because moving air across the eye pulls moisture from the tear film faster than still air does. On the flat, open caprock, with few trees, there’s little to break a gusty day. Some practical steps for March through May:

• Wear wraparound or foam-lined sunglasses on lease roads and job sites, where wind carries grit.
• Keep the truck windows up on gusty days and run the fan on recirculate rather than straight at your face.
• Rinse your face and hands before touching your eyes after a day outdoors.
• Keep drops in the cab only if the cab stays inside the label’s storage range, which it often won’t.

Oilfield hours, long drives and dry eyes

A lot of Midland workdays involve a windshield, a screen, or both. Long highway stretches on Interstate 20 or out to remote well sites mean hours of staring ahead, and drivers blink less while concentrating. Control rooms and office towers downtown add monitors and air conditioning. Each habit works against the same thing: a tear film that needs regular full blinks to stay even.

On a long drive, a rest stop every couple of hours gives your eyes a break along with your back. At a desk, look away from the screen every 20 minutes and blink deliberately a few times. Our guide for outdoor workers goes further into job-site habits.

Heat: 115 days at 90°F or hotter

Midland’s airport station records about 115 days a year at 90°F or above, and nearly 24 that reach 100°F. July’s normal high is 95.8°F. That much heat has two effects on eyes. First, it means air conditioning runs most of the year indoors and in vehicles, and cooled air tends to be dry air. Second, a bottle of eye drops left on a dashboard can get far hotter than the label allows: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). Bring the bottle inside with you, the same way you would a phone.

Winter in the Permian Basin

Winter is short but real. January’s normal low is 32.7°F, and the station counts about 58 nights a year at freezing or below. Heaters come on at home and in the truck, and outdoors the air is at its driest by rainfall. Afternoon humidity in January averages 46 percent, a little higher than spring, but heated indoor air can sit far below that. A small humidifier in the bedroom and a vent turned away from your pillow can help. See does a humidifier help dry eyes? for what to look for.

What the Quell label covers

Quell is designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss. The Drug Facts panel lists its Uses as: For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. The directions say: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. And one handling rule applies every time: Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination.

Before the first use, read the caution: Caution should be used in those with egg or bird allergies — For use in the eyes only. The label doesn’t give directions for contact lens wearers or for use alongside other eye drops. Ask your eye doctor or a pharmacist about either. The full panel is on our Drug Facts page.

Getting Quell delivered in Midland

Quell ships from Brentwood, Tennessee, to Midland, Odessa and the rest of Texas. No account is needed. Shipping is $10.00, and orders of 3 or more bottles ship free. A tracking email follows once the package leaves, but no delivery date is promised, so order before you run out. Unopened bottles are refundable within 30 days of delivery, and you don’t send them back. See the Midland page, the Texas page, or buy from the home page.

When dryness needs a doctor

Eye drops help with everyday dryness and irritation. Symptoms that keep coming back are worth an exam, where an eye doctor can work out the cause and what to do about it. The label is specific: 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.

Grit or metal in the eye from a job site is not a job for lubricating drops. Get it looked at right away. For everything else, the dry eye self-check can help you organize your symptoms before an appointment; it’s not a diagnosis.