Dry eyes while ice fishing

Ice fishing dries the eyes from several directions: cold air holds little moisture, wind sweeps across open ice with nothing to stop it, a heater in the shanty dries the air further, and glare off snow makes you squint for hours. Wraparound sunglasses, a heater aimed away from your face and a bottle carried close to your body all help.

Why your eyes dry out on the ice

A frozen lake is one of the most exposed places you can spend a winter day. There are no trees or buildings to break the wind, so it blows steadily across the surface of your eyes while you watch a tip-up or a flasher. Cold air carries very little water to begin with. And when you stare at a hole in the ice or a screen waiting for a bite, you blink less, so the tear film has longer to thin between blinks.

Many people find their eyes water at first on the ice, then feel gritty later. Watering is the eye reacting to the cold and wind; it doesn’t mean the surface is staying moist. Dry eyes from cold air explains that pattern in general.

Inside the shanty: heaters and stale air

A portable heater turns a pop-up shelter or a permanent fish house into a warm room, and it dries that room as it heats it. Sitting a few feet from the heater for hours puts a steady stream of warm, dry air on your face.

• Point the heater at your feet or the floor, not at your face.
• Sit to the side of it rather than directly in front of it.
• Follow the heater maker’s instructions for ventilation; open the vents they call for.
• Step outside now and then, which gives your eyes a break from the heated air and you a look at the weather.

Glare off snow and ice

A sunny day on a snow-covered lake throws light up at you from below as well as down from the sky. Squinting against that glare for hours is tiring, and it tends to go with fewer full blinks. Polarized sunglasses cut reflected glare, and wraparound frames or ski goggles block side wind too. On a windy day, goggles are the more comfortable choice for the walk or ride out to your spot.

How to keep eye drops from freezing on the ice

Quell’s label gives a storage range: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). A winter day on the ice is far below the bottom of that range, so where the bottle rides matters more than anything else you do with it.

• Carry it in an inside chest pocket of your jacket, close to your body, not in an outer pocket.
• Keep it out of the sled, the bucket and the tackle box, which sit at the temperature of the ice.
• Don’t leave it in the truck or on the ATV while you fish.
• Don’t set it next to the heater either. Too warm is out of range as well.
• Leave the spare bottle at home in a drawer rather than in the truck for the season.

If a bottle froze or got very cold, look at it before using it. The eye drops have a naturally milky-brown appearance. This is normal and does not indicate a problem with the product. The label’s “do not use” line reads: If this product changes color. The label doesn’t say what to do with a bottle that froze; call Quell at 615.465.6041, M–F 9AM–5PM CST, or ask a pharmacist. How to store eye drops covers temperatures in more detail.

Cold hands, bait and clean fingers

Ice fishing hands are cold, wet and covered in whatever you last touched: minnows, waxworms, fish, auger handles and the inside of a glove. None of that should go near your eye.

• Wash your hands with soap and water before using drops, at home before you head out or at the bait shop.
• If soap isn’t an option, wipe your hands clean and let any hand sanitizer dry completely first.
• Warm your hands in your pockets so they’re steady enough to aim.
• Keep the cap off for as short a time as you can. Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination.

Fitting drops into a day on the ice

The directions are the same on a lake as anywhere else: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. A day of fishing often works around them naturally: one at home before you leave, one in the warmth of the shanty around midday with clean hands, and one after you’re home and thawed out. Using drops out in the open wind, with cold fingers and gloves half on, is harder and messier than it needs to be.

Quell is designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss. It isn’t a substitute for goggles or for getting out of the wind. The full label, including the egg and bird caution, is on the Drug Facts page; read it before the season starts rather than on the ice.

When to see an eye doctor

Eyes that sting for a while after a long day in the wind usually settle once you’re indoors. If yours don’t, if your vision changes, or if one eye hurts, see an eye doctor; working out what happened is their job. The label puts it this way: 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.