Dry eyes at an outdoor Christmas market

Outdoor Christmas markets dry out eyes because you spend hours in cold, low-moisture air, often with a breeze between the stalls and wood smoke from grills, fire pits and mulled-wine stands. Wear glasses or sunglasses to block wind, stay upwind of smoke, take warm breaks indoors, and carry lubricating drops in an inside coat pocket so they stay within the label’s storage range.

What a market evening does to your eyes

Most markets are at their busiest after dark, when the lights are on and the temperature is dropping. Cold air holds very little water, so moisture leaves the surface of the eye quickly. Walking down long aisles of stalls in a city square or along a riverfront often means walking into a steady breeze.

Then there’s the browsing itself. Looking closely at ornaments, reading handwritten price cards and scrolling a phone map all involve focus, and focused eyes blink less often. An hour of that in cold air can leave eyes stinging or watery by the time you reach the food stalls.

Smoke from grills, fire pits and stoves

Many markets cook over charcoal or wood: roasted chestnuts, sausages, flatbreads. Fire pits and outdoor heaters draw a crowd on cold nights, and the smoke drifts at eye level. Smoke is irritating, and standing in it while you wait in line is one of the quickest ways to end up rubbing your eyes.

• Check which way the smoke is drifting and stand on the other side of the stall.
• Warm your hands near a fire pit briefly, then step back rather than lingering in the plume.
• Eat at a table away from the cooking stations when you can.
• Don’t rub your eyes with gloves that have touched railings, food or money.

What to wear

Glasses, even plain clear ones, block a lot of the wind that otherwise hits the eyes directly. A hat with a brim keeps falling snow or sleet out of your eyes. A scarf that covers the nose keeps cold air off the lower face; just make sure it isn’t so high that breath fogs your glasses and you end up taking them off.

Contact lens wearers sometimes find a long, cold evening uncomfortable. Quell’s label doesn’t give directions for use with contacts, so it’s worth asking your eye doctor what they suggest for winter outings, or wearing glasses for the evening instead.

Carrying eye drops in a coat pocket

A small bottle is easy to bring along. Quell comes in a .33 fl oz (10 mL) bottle. The thing to watch on a cold night is temperature. The label says: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). An outside coat pocket on a freezing evening can get colder than that, and a car parked for hours can too. An inside chest pocket keeps the bottle close to body heat.

If you plan to use drops while you’re out, warm your hands first, ideally after washing them in a restroom. Follow the label’s handling line: Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination. Glove fingertips and frosty railings are exactly the surfaces you don’t want the tip to touch. Our guide on whether eye drops can freeze in a cold car covers what to do with a bottle that got too cold.

Take warm breaks

Indoor breaks help, though not every indoor space does. A café or the heated tent with the long tables gives your eyes relief from the wind. Sitting directly in front of a patio heater or a blasting door heater, though, swaps one dry air source for another. Choose a seat a little back from the heat, and blink slowly a few times once you sit down.

• Plan a break every hour or so on a cold night.
• Drink something warm and non-alcoholic between mulled wines.
• Step out of crowds for a few minutes; bumping shoulders while browsing means more squinting and less blinking.
• If you’re with kids, keep sparklers or handheld lights away from faces.

What the Quell label covers

The label lists its Uses as: For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. It’s designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss, which suits cold, dry, breezy air. The directions read: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. There’s also a caution for some people: Caution should be used in those with egg or bird allergies — For use in the eyes only. The full panel is on our Drug Facts page.

If the market sells handmade gifts and you’re thinking of picking up eye drops as one, our guide to stocking stuffers for eye drop users has more ideas.

When to stop browsing and get help

A drop is for dryness and irritation, not for an ember, a piece of grit or a spray of something from a stall. If anything gets into your eye and doesn’t rinse out, or if it hurts afterward, see a doctor. Our list of eye symptoms that need a doctor covers the signs. The label is clear about 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.