Dry eye relief in New Orleans, Louisiana

Dry eye relief in New Orleans means managing the indoors. NOAA’s records show some of the most humid air in the country outside, but homes, offices and hotels run cold air conditioning for much of the year, and that cooled, moving air dries the eyes. Turn vents away from your face, take blink breaks, and use a lubricating drop as its label directs.

New Orleans by the numbers

NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals for Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, out in Kenner, record a climate built on water. The station sits about 4 feet above sea level, and its figures show:

• About 63.35 inches of rain in a normal year, with June the wettest month at 7.62 inches.
• Even October, the driest month, averages 3.70 inches.
• About 85 days a year at 90°F or above; July and August highs average about 91°F.
• Roughly five nights a year at freezing or below, and January highs averaging 62.5°F.
• A snowfall normal of zero.

Humid outside, dry at your desk

NOAA’s relative humidity table puts New Orleans mornings between 84 and 91 percent in every month, and afternoons never average below 59 percent, the figure for April, May and October. August mornings average 91 percent. Walk from the Quarter to the CBD in July and you feel every point of it.

Then you step inside. The city’s cooling degree days, about 3,206 a year in NOAA’s normals, show how hard the air conditioning works, and it runs from spring well into fall. Cooling coils take water out of the air while chilling it, and the blower keeps that drier air moving. For your eyes, the change from a sticky sidewalk to a 68-degree office is the moment evaporation speeds up: the water layer of the tear film loses moisture faster in cool, moving, conditioned air.

• Point car vents at the floor or windshield instead of your face, especially on a long drive across the Causeway.
• In a hotel room, set the thermostat fan to auto instead of on, so it isn’t blowing all night while you sleep.
• Keep a desk fan off your face; aim it at your hands or chest.
• Look away from the screen and blink slowly a few times every so often, since concentrated screen work slows blinking.

Festival days and parade routes

Some of the city’s longest outdoor days fall in the mildest months. Carnival parades roll in winter, when NOAA’s normals put February highs near 66°F, and spring brings the big music festivals. Standing for hours on a neutral ground in a breeze, squinting into afternoon sun, then walking home late adds up to a lot of air across the eye. Sunglasses help in daylight. After dark, give your eyes a rest by closing them for a few seconds between floats.

Pack small. A bottle of Quell holds .33 fl oz (10 mL), small enough for a pocket or crossbody bag, and keeping it close to your body on a long parade day keeps it from baking in a hot car.

Heat, storage and the car

The label’s storage line reads Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). New Orleans afternoons pass the top of that range on about 85 days a year, and a parked car in a Metairie lot gets far hotter. Skip the glovebox from May through September. Carry the bottle in a bag that comes inside with you, and keep it out of direct sun on a porch or balcony.

If a bottle sat in the heat, look at it before use. The label’s do-not-use line is “If this product changes color,” and its description of a normal bottle reads “Product appears as a milky brown solution.” The milky-brown look is expected, since the drop contains oils; a change from that look is what to watch for.

How Quell works with the tear film

The tear film has three layers: mucus against the eye, water in the middle, and a thin oil layer on top that slows evaporation. Quell is designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss. Its active ingredients are Glycerol (1.0%), Polysorbate 80 (1.0%) and Light Mineral Oil (0.5%), and the label’s directions are short: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. The full panel, warnings included, is on the Drug Facts page.

Ordering Quell to New Orleans

Orders ship from Brentwood, Tennessee, to New Orleans, Metairie, Kenner and every other US address. No account is needed: buy as a guest, pay $10.00 for shipping or nothing on 3 or more bottles, and watch for an email with tracking once the box ships. No delivery date is promised. Unopened bottles can be refunded within 30 days of delivery, and you don’t have to send them back. See the New Orleans page, the Louisiana page, or order Quell.

When to call an eye doctor

Ongoing dryness has more than one possible cause, and sorting that out is an eye doctor’s job. Here’s when the label says 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.

Book a visit for pain, light sensitivity, a change in vision, or symptoms that return after a few good days. Eye symptoms that need a doctor lists more warning signs.