Dry eyes while Christmas shopping

Christmas shopping dries the eyes because a single trip stacks up several things that speed tear evaporation: heated stores, cold wind in the parking lot, stuffy crowded aisles, and long stretches looking at a phone, which slows blinking. Take your coat off indoors, wear sunglasses outside, look up from the screen often, keep your bottle in your bag rather than the car, and use a lubricating drop as its label directs.

Why do my eyes feel dry after shopping?

Your eyes stay comfortable thanks to the tear film, a thin layer of oil, water and mucus that each blink spreads across the surface. Anything that makes that layer evaporate faster, or makes you blink less, leaves the eye feeling gritty, scratchy or tired. A December shopping day manages both at once:

• Stores and malls heat the air, which lowers its relative humidity.
• The walk across a parking lot puts cold wind on your face.
• Concentrating on price tags, lists and a phone screen cuts down on blinking.
• Hours on your feet with a heavy coat on leave you warm and flushed in dry air.

None of these is a problem on its own for most people. It’s the hours, and the back-and-forth between them, that add up by the time you get home.

Heated malls and big-box stores

Many stores blow warm air across the entrance to keep the cold out, and that blast lands right at face height as you walk in. Inside, the heat is set for people in shirtsleeves, not for shoppers in parkas. A few changes help:

• Take off your coat, or at least open it and pull off the hat, once you’re inside.
• Don’t linger right inside the doors under the heater; move into the store.
• Pick a food court table away from ceiling vents if you stop for lunch.
• Drink some water during the day; long shopping trips make it easy to forget.

Cold parking lots and wind

December parking lots are wide, open and often windy, and a walk from the far end of the lot to the doors can leave your eyes stinging. Cold wind dries the surface of the eye and often makes it water as a reflex, which is why eyes can feel dry and teary on the same trip. Sunglasses, even on gray days, break the wind. Once you’re back in the car, set the heater to the windshield and floor rather than the face vents. Our guide to dry eyes when driving in winter has more on the car side.

Phone screens: lists, apps and price checks

Holiday shopping now happens partly on a phone, even in a store: checking lists, scanning for reviews, comparing prices, finding the store map, texting a family member a photo of two sweaters. When you focus on a small screen, you blink less often and less completely, so the tear film thins between blinks.

• Look up from your phone between aisles and blink fully a few times.
• Write the list on paper, or settle it at home, so you’re not scrolling in the store.
• Turn the screen brightness to match the room; a screen far brighter than the store makes you squint.
• Hold the phone a little lower, which lets your eyelids cover more of your eyes.

Crowds, lines and stuffy stores

Busy weekends in December pack people into aisles and checkout lines, and the air can feel warm and close. You may also catch yourself rubbing your eyes while you wait. Shopping carts, door handles and card readers pass through a lot of hands, so wash your hands before touching your eyes or putting in a drop. If you use a drop while you’re out, a restroom with soap and water is the place for it, not the checkout line.

A plan for a long shopping day

• Go earlier in the day, when stores are less crowded and you’re less tired.
• Plan a break every hour or two, ideally somewhere you can sit away from vents.
• Keep sunglasses in your coat pocket for the parking lot.
• Bring your eye drop in your bag with the cap snapped shut.
• Use it as the label directs, which may line up with a lunch or coffee break.
• End the day at home with screens dimmed and a humidifier running in the bedroom.

Don’t leave your drops in the car

It’s tempting to leave a bag of purchases and everything else in the car between stores. Quell’s label gives a storage range: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). A car in a December parking lot can drop below that, especially on a long day or in colder parts of the country, so keep the bottle in your purse, backpack or an inside coat pocket. Our guide on whether eye drops can freeze in a cold car explains more.

Shopping online instead

Some people skip the stores altogether, which trades parking lots for evening screen time at home. The same blink breaks apply. If you’re ordering Quell as a gift or for yourself, order early: shipping goes out from Brentwood, Tennessee, with a tracking email, but no delivery date is promised. Orders of 3 or more bottles ship free; smaller ones pay $10.00. You can order from the home page.

Using Quell during the holidays

Quell is a preservative-free lubricating drop designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss. Its Uses read: For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. Directions: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. Before your first use, read the caution: Caution should be used in those with egg or bird allergies — For use in the eyes only. The full Drug Facts panel is on the Drug Facts page.

When dryness is more than a busy day

Eyes that feel better after a night’s sleep were probably just worn out by the day. If dryness comes back every day or gets worse, see an eye doctor. The label 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.