Dry eye relief in Nashville, Tennessee

In Nashville, dry eyes usually come from indoor air rather than the weather. Summer is muggy, but air conditioning runs for months, furnaces take over from November, and April and October bring the driest afternoons of the year. Point vents away from your face, blink fully at screens, and use a lubricating drop the way its label directs. Eye pain or blurred vision calls for an eye doctor.

Is Nashville humid or dry?

Both, depending on the hour. NOAA’s relative humidity table for Nashville International Airport puts the yearly morning average at 84 percent and the afternoon average at 56 percent. That gap matters. Dew on the lawn at 7 a.m. tells you little about the air in a sunny parking lot at 3 p.m.

The same table shows which months dip lowest in the afternoon:

• April averages 51 percent, the lowest of any month.
• October follows at 53 percent, as the fall leaves turn.
• March sits at 54 percent, while August and September hold near 55.
• December and January are the dampest afternoons, at 63 and 64 percent.

So a spring walk around Radnor Lake or an October afternoon at a Titans tailgate can leave eyes feeling scratchier than a sticky July evening on Broadway.

Music City weather by the numbers

NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 climate normals for the airport station, which sits roughly 600 feet above sea level, describe a city with plenty of rain and real seasons:

• About 50.5 inches of precipitation in a normal year, so Nashville is anything but arid.
• Spring is the wettest season, with about 14.3 inches from March through May, and October is the driest single month at about 3.4 inches.
• Average July highs reach 90.9°F, and about 54 days a year hit 90°F or above.
• January averages a high of 49.1°F and a low of 30.1°F, with about 66 nights at or below freezing.
• Snow is light, around 4.7 inches in a typical winter.

Air conditioning from May to September

Fifty-plus days in the 90s means cooling runs hard at home, in the office and in the car. An air conditioner pulls moisture out of the air as it cools it, and a vent blowing straight at your face speeds up evaporation from the eye’s surface. Commuters on I-65 and I-24 often sit in traffic with the dash vents aimed right at them.

• Angle car vents toward your chest or the windshield instead of your eyes.
• At a desk downtown or in Cool Springs, move a fan so it doesn’t sweep across your face.
• Take a break from the screen every so often and blink fully a few times, since focusing on a monitor cuts the blink rate.

Furnace season and dry eyes in Nashville

With about 66 freezing nights, heat runs most evenings from late fall into March. Warming cold outdoor air lowers its relative humidity, so a cozy living room in East Nashville can be far drier than the gray drizzle outside. A bedroom humidifier, cleaned as its manual says, and registers closed near the couch can help. Our guide to winter heating and dry eyes has more on the furnace side.

Cold snaps also bring wind. A walk across the pedestrian bridge over the Cumberland River on a January evening is a reliable way to end up with watering, stinging eyes. Glasses or sunglasses block some of that breeze.

Eye drops from nearby Brentwood

Quell is made by Aurora Pharmaceuticals, LLC, based in Brentwood, Tennessee, just south of Nashville in Williamson County, and orders ship from there. Checkout works without an account, shipping is $10.00, and orders of 3 or more bottles ship free. We email tracking once a package leaves, though we don’t promise a delivery date. Davidson County addresses are covered on the Nashville page, and the rest of the state is on the Tennessee page.

Quell is designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss. The label’s Uses read: 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. One caution comes first, before you buy: Caution should be used in those with egg or bird allergies — For use in the eyes only. The full panel is on the Drug Facts page.

Keeping a bottle in a Tennessee car

The label’s storage line reads: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). A car parked at Shelby Bottoms on an August afternoon can get much hotter than that inside, and a January night can drop below it. Carry the bottle in a bag or pocket that comes indoors with you rather than leaving it in the console.

When to see an eye doctor in Nashville

Drops are meant for everyday dryness. Symptoms that keep returning, or that come with pain, deserve a proper exam. The label says when to stop: 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.

If you’re not sure how to describe what you feel, our dry eye self-check helps you put it into words for the appointment. It’s not a diagnosis, just a list of questions to bring with you.