Dry eyes in Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs sits higher than Denver, at 6,035 feet by the city’s own count, and its air is dry for much of the year. Add wind off the foothills, long winters of indoor heat and plenty of outdoor training at altitude, and eyes can feel dry or gritty here even when nothing else has changed. Adjusting the air you sit in, blinking on purpose, and a lubricating drop used as labeled cover most of it.

Dry eyes in Colorado Springs: the numbers

The National Weather Service office in Pueblo keeps the climate records for Colorado Springs. Its 1991–2020 normals put annual precipitation at 15.91 inches and annual snowfall at 32.5 inches, with a normal annual mean temperature of 50.4°F. Winter is the driest stretch on that table: 0.37 inches in November, 0.23 inches in December, 0.29 inches in January and 0.32 inches in February.

The office’s annual summary for 2025 gives a feel for an actual year. It recorded 16.28 inches of precipitation against that 15.91-inch normal, an average wind speed of 9.1 mph, a highest gust of 64 mph on March 4, and an average relative humidity of 52 percent. That humidity figure is a yearly average across day and night; dry winter afternoons indoors with the furnace running sit far below it.

Why 6,035 feet matters for your eyes

Altitude shapes the air more than it shapes the eye itself. The higher you go, the thinner and usually drier the air, and the faster water evaporates from any exposed surface. The front of your eye is one of those surfaces, covered by a tear film only a few layers deep: mucus against the eye, water in the middle and a thin film of oil on top that slows evaporation. Each blink lays down a new film, and dry air takes it apart a little faster between blinks.

The city’s media page describes that 6,035-foot elevation as an ideal training location for athletes. The same thin, dry air that makes it useful for training also means anyone running, cycling or hiking hard here is breathing and blinking in it for long stretches.

Pikes Peak days and the drive up

Pikes Peak, which the city calls America’s Mountain, tops out at 14,115 feet, more than 8,000 feet above downtown. A trip up the mountain, whether by the highway, the cog railway or on foot, moves you into colder, windier air in a short time. Wraparound sunglasses help on the summit, and keeping the car’s vents off your face on the drive helps on the way.

Bring your drops, but keep the bottle somewhere sheltered. On a cold summit or a hot parking lot at the base, a bottle in a door pocket can end up outside the label’s range, Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). An inside jacket pocket keeps it close to body temperature.

Dry eyes in Colorado: daily life around the Springs

• Garden of the Gods and Red Rock Canyon trails: open, sunny ground where wind meets you head-on. Sunglasses and a hat brim help.
• Long commutes on I-25 or Powers Boulevard: the car heater or air conditioning blows straight at the driver unless you angle the vents down.
• Base life and shift work: early starts, late finishes and time in heated or cooled buildings mean a drop schedule has to fit an unusual day, not a nine-to-five one.
• Winter at home: furnace heat from fall into spring dries the indoor air further, especially in a bedroom with the door closed.

Fitting the label’s directions into a Springs day

Quell’s label gives one schedule: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. It doesn’t change with the weather, so the work is in spacing. Tie each drop to something you already do: one after the morning coffee, one at lunch, and one in the evening before you settle in for the night. If you train early, a drop before you head out and another once you’re back indoors can be two of the three. When applying any drop, follow the label’s handling line: Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination.

Around the drops, work on the air. A humidifier in the room where you sleep, cleaned the way its maker says, raises the moisture you spend eight hours in. Screens deserve a pause: look out the window toward the mountains for a little while and blink fully a few times. And if you’ve got a space heater in a basement office, point it at your legs, not your face; dry eyes from a space heater goes into that.

Ordering Quell to Colorado Springs

Quell ships from Brentwood, Tennessee, to any address in the United States, including homes on and around the city’s bases. Shipping is a flat $10.00, and orders of 3 bottles or more ship free. The site doesn’t promise a delivery date, so order while you still have a week or two left. See the Colorado Springs page and the Colorado page for the local details.

When dry air isn’t the whole story

The label sets the limit on what a drop is for: For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. If things don’t settle, it also says 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. An eye doctor in town can look at what’s going on. If it helps to sort out what you’re noticing first, try the self-check; it is not a diagnosis.