Dry eyes in a heated office in winter

Office buildings in winter run forced-air heat for most of the workday, and warming cold outside air lowers its relative humidity, so the air at your desk can be very dry. Sitting in a vent’s airflow makes it worse. Moving out of the airflow, asking facilities for help and using drops within the label’s directions, Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye, all help.

How office heating dries the air

Most commercial buildings heat by pulling in outside air, warming it and blowing it through ducts. On a January day, that outside air arrives holding very little water, and heating it doesn’t add any. By the time it comes out of the diffuser above your desk, it’s warm and dry, and it keeps coming for hours. Older buildings with steam radiators dry the air too, just with less moving air.

Is your desk under a vent?

Look up. If there’s a ceiling diffuser directly over your chair, or a floor vent by your feet blowing upward, your eyes are in the path of a steady breeze of heated air. A strip of tissue held near the vent shows which way the air goes. Some fixes to try:

• Turn your desk or monitor so the airflow hits your back instead of your face.
• Ask facilities whether the diffuser’s louvers can be adjusted to throw air away from your workstation.
• If hot-desking, pick a seat away from vents and away from the glass of exterior windows, where drafts are common.
• Turn off a personal desk fan in winter; many people forget it from summer.

Shared thermostats and facilities requests

In most offices, one person’s comfort setting is another person’s complaint, and the thermostat may be locked anyway. Asking to change the temperature tends to go nowhere. Asking facilities about airflow, a vent deflector or whether a small humidifier is allowed at your desk is a more specific request and more likely to get a yes. Some buildings restrict personal space heaters and humidifiers, so ask before bringing one in.

Meetings, conference rooms and the commute

Conference rooms are often small, packed and overheated, with a projector or a large display adding to the screen time. If you know a long meeting is coming, a drop before it is a reasonable use of one of your three. Sit away from the room’s vent if you can choose a seat.

The commute adds its own dry air: a car heater on high, or a cold wind on the walk from the train. Arriving from freezing wind straight into a warm, dry lobby is a lot for the eyes in a short space of time. Aiming the car vents at the windshield and wearing glasses or sunglasses outside take some of the edge off.

Keeping a bottle at your desk

A desk drawer is a fine place for an eye drop bottle in most offices, because the building stays at an ordinary indoor temperature. Quell’s label says Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). Watch for the exceptions:

• A desk pushed against a radiator or heating unit, where the drawer can run warm.
• A windowsill or ledge in direct winter sun.
• An office that turns its heat far down on nights and weekends; if the building gets cold over a long weekend, take the bottle home.
• A coat pocket left in a car during the workday, where the bottle can get very cold.

At your desk, wash your hands before each drop and remember: Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination. Keep the cap on and the bottle in the drawer rather than loose among pens and papers. How to store eye drops has more on finding the right spot.

Where Quell fits on a winter workday

Quell is designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss, and its label lists it For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. With three drops a day, one at the start of the workday, one after lunch and one before a long afternoon meeting covers the hours you spend in the building. The tear film’s oil layer explains why the oil layer matters in dry air.

If it doesn’t get better in spring

Office heat explains a lot of winter dryness, and many people notice an improvement when the heating season ends; winter heating and dry eyes covers the same problem at home. If your eyes still bother you after the heat goes off, or on weekends at home, it’s worth an eye exam. The label lists 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.