Dry eyes at a holiday party

Holiday parties dry eyes because they stack several things at once: heated rooms full of people, candles and fireplaces, a late night after a full workday, and a phone screen for photos. Stand away from the fire and heat vents, blink fully, step outside or into a quieter room now and then, and carry a lubricating drop in a pocket or purse to use as its label directs.

Why a party room dries your eyes

Most December gatherings happen indoors with the heat running. Heating cold air lowers its relative humidity, and a room packed with guests often gets the thermostat nudged up rather than down. Then come the extras:

• A fireplace or wood stove warms one corner of the room and moves air across it.
• Rows of candles add a little warmth and smoke near eye level on tables and mantels.
• Kitchen heat from the oven drifts into the living room.
• Ceiling fans set to spread the warmth keep air moving overhead.
• Hours of conversation, which often means looking at faces and lights without many full blinks.

Any one of these is minor. Three hours of all of them, at the end of a day spent in a heated office, is when people start rubbing their eyes. Our guide to fireplaces, candles and dry eyes looks at the first two in more detail.

Where to stand

You can’t control the host’s thermostat, but you can choose your spot. Stay a few steps back from the fireplace, and out of the line of a floor register or a portable heater. Chat on the side of a candle-lined table away from where the smoke drifts. If there’s a room with fewer people and no fire, it’s usually more comfortable. A few minutes on a porch or patio in cool, still air can give your eyes a break, though cold wind does the opposite, so stay sheltered.

Late nights and tired eyes

December parties tend to start after work and run late. Eyes that have been open for 16 or 18 hours are more likely to feel dry, and less sleep the night before doesn’t help. Our guide to dry eyes from lack of sleep covers the connection.

If you wear contact lenses, the label of any eye drop is the place to check, and Quell’s label doesn’t give directions for use with contacts. Bring your glasses as a backup and ask your eye doctor what to use with your lenses.

Photos, screens and the white elephant game

Phones come out constantly: group photos, videos of the gift exchange, scrolling through pictures someone just sent. Staring at a small, bright screen reduces blinking. When you’ve finished looking at your phone, look across the room and blink slowly a few times. Camera flashes and bright string lights can make you squint, and squinting tends to swap full blinks for half ones.

Carrying eye drops in a purse or pocket

A small bottle travels easily. Quell is .33 fl oz (10 mL), which fits in a clutch, a jacket pocket or a small zippered pouch. Keep it with you instead of in a coat piled on the host’s bed, so you know where it is and it stays clean. Our guide to carrying eye drops in a purse or pocket covers caps, leaks and pockets that run warm.

If you need a drop, step into the bathroom or a quiet corner and wash your hands first. The handling line on the label is the one most often broken at parties, when the cap gets set on a counter: Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination. Then follow the directions: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. Don’t pass your bottle around, even to a friend who asks. Our guide on whether you can share eye drops explains why.

The car ride and the coat check

Where the bottle waits matters. Quell’s storage line reads: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). A coat left in a freezing car during a long dinner, or a purse set next to a fireplace, can push it outside that range. If a bottle has been left in a cold car, our guide on whether eye drops can freeze in a cold car explains what to check. On the drive home, point the heater vents at the windshield or your feet rather than your face.

Before using a bottle that’s been knocking around a purse, look at it. Quell normally looks a certain way: Product appears as a milky brown solution. The label’s “Do not use” line reads: If this product changes color.

When it’s more than party air

Scratchy eyes after a long evening usually settle after sleep in a cooler room. If they don’t, or something else seems wrong, the label says what to watch for: 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. Working out what’s going on belongs to an eye doctor. Our list of eye symptoms that need a doctor explains which signs need attention sooner.

Before using Quell for the first time, read the caution on its label: Caution should be used in those with egg or bird allergies — For use in the eyes only. You can read the rest of the panel on the Drug Facts page.