Dry eyes in Chicago

Chicago eyes dry out mostly indoors, in the long heating season. NOAA’s O’Hare records show about 121 freezing nights a year, so radiators and forced-air heat run for months, drying the air around you. Wind off the lake and across L platforms adds to it outside. Keep heat and fans off your face, blink often at screens, wear glasses in the wind and use a lubricating drop as labeled. Persistent symptoms need an eye doctor.

Chicago weather by NOAA’s numbers

O’Hare International Airport is Chicago’s official weather station, and NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals for it describe a city with a long, hard winter and a short, warm summer:

• January’s normal high is 31.6°F and its normal low is 18.8°F.
• About 121 nights a year fall to freezing or below, and about 43 days never get above freezing at all.
• Roughly six or seven nights a year drop to zero or colder.
• Normal snowfall is 38.4 inches, most of it in December, January and February.
• July’s normal high is 84.5°F, and only about 17 days a year reach 90°F.
• Normal yearly precipitation is 37.86 inches.

Is the air in Chicago dry in winter?

Outdoors, not by the usual measure. NOAA’s humidity table for Chicago shows winter afternoons averaging 68 percent in January and 70 in December, higher than in spring, when April and May afternoons average 54 percent. But relative humidity depends on temperature. Bring 20-degree air inside and heat it to 70 degrees, and the same amount of moisture becomes a much lower relative humidity. That’s why a Chicago apartment in January can feel like a desert even when the weather report says the outside air is damp.

Older buildings with steam radiators often run hot, and residents crack windows to compensate, which brings in cold drafts on top of the heat. Newer high-rises use forced air that blows steadily from ceiling vents. Either way, warm, dry indoor air speeds evaporation from the tear film, the thin layer of oil, water and mucus over each eye. Winter heating and dry eyes explains the effect in more detail.

Lake wind and the L platform

Wind is the other half of a Chicago winter. Waiting on an elevated L platform, walking across a bridge over the river or running the Lakefront Trail puts cold, moving air straight onto your eyes. Your eyes may water in the cold, which can seem odd if they also feel dry; reflex tearing in the wind is common and doesn’t replace a steady tear film. Some ways to cut the exposure:

• Wear glasses or wraparound sunglasses outside; even clear lenses block a lot of wind.
• Wait inside the platform shelter, or on the side of it away from the wind, when you can.
• Pull a hat brim or hood forward on the lakefront to shield your face from gusts.
• Once you’re on the train, step away from the doors and the heater vents.

Loop offices and screen time

Downtown, the workday adds a screen to the dry air. People blink less often while reading a monitor, and each skipped blink leaves the eye’s surface exposed a little longer. In a sealed office tower with heat blowing from a ceiling diffuser, the combination wears on eyes by mid-afternoon. Lowering the monitor, angling the vent and taking a two-minute walk to the window every hour all help. Dry eyes in a heated office in winter has a fuller checklist.

Summer: AC, fans and a short break

Chicago’s warm months bring their own dryness. Window air conditioners and box fans pushing air across a bedroom all night leave many people waking with gritty eyes, and the summer street festivals mean long days in sun and wind. Point fans at your body rather than your face, and keep sunglasses handy for Wrigleyville afternoons and beach days alike.

Using a lubricating eye drop in Chicago

Quell is a preservative-free, over-the-counter lubricating eye drop. Its Drug Facts 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, the layer that slows evaporation in dry, heated rooms. The label directions read: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye.

Two other label lines matter in a Chicago winter. First, storage: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). A bottle left in a car on a January night will get far colder than that, so keep it in an inner coat pocket or indoors. Second, Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination. Wash your hands after a ride on the train before you use any drop. The full panel, including the warning that reads Caution should be used in those with egg or bird allergies — For use in the eyes only, is on the Drug Facts page.

When to see an eye doctor in Chicago

Dryness from heated air is common, but it isn’t the only reason eyes feel uncomfortable, and working out the cause belongs to an optometrist or ophthalmologist. Quell’s label says: 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. Before an appointment, the dry eye self-check can help you sort your symptoms, and Questions to ask your eye doctor helps you make the most of the visit.

Getting Quell delivered in Chicago

Quell ships from Brentwood, Tennessee, to any Illinois address, including apartments and offices. Shipping is $10.00 below 3 bottles and free from 3 up. Checkout is open to guests aged 18 or older, there’s no subscription, and unopened bottles can be refunded within 30 days of delivery without being returned. The site doesn’t promise a delivery date. If your building has a package room, collect the box promptly in winter. More on the Chicago page and the Illinois page.