Your eyes aren't imagining it. Winter genuinely makes dry eye worse — and it's not just "the cold." It's the combination of freezing air outside (which holds almost no moisture) and your furnace blasting dry heat inside. Both environments pull moisture straight off your tear film. Add the fact that we all spend more time staring at screens when it's dark at 4:30pm, and yeah. Recipe for sandpaper eyes.
I'm going to walk through what's actually happening, what works, and what's a waste of money.
Why Do Your Eyes Get So Dry in Winter?
Two reasons, and they stack.
Cold air can't hold moisture the way warm air can. At -20°C, there's roughly 90% less water vapour in the air than at room temperature. So the second you step outside, your tears start evaporating faster than your eyes can replace them. That's problem one.
Problem two: you come inside, crank the heat, and now you're sitting in air that's even drier than outside. Furnace air in a Canadian home during January? Often 20-30% humidity. The Sahara sits around 25%. So. Not great.
| Factor | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Cold outdoor air | Almost no moisture — tears evaporate fast |
| Furnace/heating | Drops indoor humidity to 20-30% |
| Wind | Makes evaporation even worse |
| Screen time | You blink way less — tears don't spread |
Here's what gets me: an Alberta optometry survey found that 3 in 5 people with dry eye symptoms just... don't do anything about it. They suffer through the whole winter. Every year.
What Does Winter Dry Eye Feel Like?
Gritty. Sandy. Like there's something in your eye that won't come out no matter how much you blink.
Burning is common. So is stinging. Especially by late afternoon when your tear film has been getting hammered all day.
And here's the confusing one — watery eyes. People come in all the time saying "my eyes won't stop watering, how can they be dry?" Makes sense that it's confusing. What's happening is reflex tearing. Your eyes panic, dump a flood of watery tears onto the surface. But these emergency tears are mostly water — no oil layer to keep them in place. So they run down your face while your actual cornea stays dry underneath.
Frustrating. I know.
Other stuff you might notice:
- Vision goes blurry, clears when you blink, goes blurry again
- Light sensitivity — fluorescent lights are the worst
- Eyes feel tired way earlier than they should
- Contacts become unbearable by 2pm
Had a patient last winter — teacher, early 40s — convinced she needed a new glasses prescription. Her vision kept blurring out at her desk. Turned out her tear film was breaking down every few seconds because of the heating vent above her. Nothing wrong with her prescription. Just brutally dry air.
What's Happening to Your Tear Film?
Quick anatomy. Your tear film has three layers. Think of it like a sandwich:
Bottom layer (mucin) helps tears stick to your eye. Middle layer (aqueous) is the watery part — moisture and nutrients. Top layer (lipid/oil) prevents everything from evaporating. That top layer comes from your meibomian glands, these little oil glands lining your eyelids.
Winter messes with that oil layer first.
Cold temperatures make the oil thicker. It doesn't flow as easily. The gland openings can clog. And when your oil layer isn't doing its job, the watery layer underneath just... evaporates. That's evaporative dry eye. The 2017 TFOS DEWS II report (biggest dry eye research review ever done) found meibomian gland dysfunction in something like 86% of dry eye cases.
| Dry Eye Type | What's Going On | Winter Link |
|---|---|---|
| Evaporative | Oil layer too weak, tears evaporate | Cold stiffens the oils |
| Aqueous-deficient | Not producing enough tears | Dehydration — people drink less when it's cold |
| Mixed | Both | Very common in harsh winters |
Full honesty — I don't think we totally understand everything happening here. There's probably something going on with corneal nerve sensitivity in cold that hasn't been fully figured out yet. But we know enough to actually help people.
What Can You Do About It?
Most of this is free or cheap. Start here before buying stuff.
Get a humidifier. Seriously. This is the single biggest thing. If your home is sitting at 20% humidity all winter, no eye drop is going to fix that. Target 30-50%. Put one in your bedroom at minimum — you're in there 7-8 hours with your eyes partially open. A $40 humidifier will do more than $200 worth of drops. I've seen it over and over.
Car vents — point them away from your face. That hot blast every morning? Cooking your tear film. Aim at your chest or feet.
Wraparound glasses outside. Or ski goggles. Whatever. Wind destroys tear film. Regular glasses help a bit but wraparound creates a little moisture chamber. Matters more than people think.
20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Yeah it sounds annoying. Set a timer. It works because it forces you to blink properly — when you're focused on a screen, your blink rate drops by up to 66%. Sixty-six percent. Your tears can't spread if you're not blinking.
Drink water. People drink way less water in winter. Not sweating, not thirsty. But hydration affects tear production directly. Keep a water bottle at your desk. Boring advice. Still true.
Deliberate blinking. Sounds weird. Once an hour, do 20 full blinks — close completely, gentle squeeze, open. Your normal blinks during screen time are often incomplete. Lids don't fully close. Tears don't spread. This resets things.
When Should You Actually See Someone?
If you've tried the home stuff for two weeks and you're still miserable — book an appointment. Also if:
- You're using drops more than 4x a day and still not comfortable
- Vision stays blurry even after you blink
- Redness or pain that doesn't quit
- Contacts have become genuinely intolerable
- Waking up with eyes stuck shut or crusty
Here's the thing — chronic dry eye that goes untreated can damage your cornea. I've seen patients who waited years and ended up with scarring that affects their vision. Permanently. It's not common, but it happens. Most cases are totally treatable if you catch them.
An optometrist can check your meibomian glands, measure tear breakup time, figure out exactly what type of dry eye you're dealing with. Sometimes you need prescription drops. Sometimes in-office treatments like IPL or thermal expression can clear blocked glands. Sometimes it's literally just switching to a different artificial tear.
What Products Actually Help?
Depends on your dry eye type. But some general principles:
Artificial tears: For mild to moderate, preservative-free is the way to go. If you're using drops more than 4 times a day, preservative-free is non-negotiable. The preserved ones contain BAK (benzalkonium chloride) — it builds up on your cornea over time and makes things worse. Thealoz Duo, Hylo, I-Drop are all solid options.
Gel drops: Thicker. Last longer. Blur your vision for 10-15 minutes though, so most people use them at bedtime. Systane Gel, Refresh Celluvisc — those work.
Warm compresses: If your issue is evaporative (statistically, it probably is), you need to deal with those meibomian glands. 5-10 minutes of heat daily helps melt the thickened oil and opens blocked glands. The heated eye masks made for this work better than a DIY washcloth — more consistent temperature.
Omega-3s: Research is mixed. The 2018 DREAM study showed some benefit for moderate dry eye but it wasn't a slam dunk. I still recommend it to most patients — triglyceride-form fish oil, at least 2000mg EPA+DHA daily. Seems to help with oil quality in the tear film.
What to avoid: Anything marketed as "gets the red out." Visine Original. Clear Eyes. These contain vasoconstrictors that make your eyes look whiter temporarily but cause rebound redness and make dry eye worse over time. Just don't.
Not sure where to start? Take our Winter Dry Eye Quiz — it'll point you toward products that match your specific symptoms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Wait, my eyes are watering constantly. How is that dry eye?
Reflex tearing. Your eyes sense dryness and overcorrect by flooding the surface with watery tears. But these tears are low-quality — mostly water, no oil. They run down your face instead of staying put. Meanwhile your cornea is still dry. Body's trying to help. Not working.
Can this actually damage my vision?
If it's severe and you ignore it for a long time, yes. Chronic dryness can scar the cornea. Rare if you're managing symptoms, but it's why you shouldn't just tough it out for years. Earlier you address it, better outcome.
Are expensive drops worth the money?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. The price difference usually comes down to: preservative-free (worth it for frequent use), lipid-based vs aqueous (lipid is better for evaporative dry eye), and specialty ingredients like trehalose or hyaluronic acid. But expensive doesn't automatically mean better for you. Match the drop to your dry eye type.
Eye drops at night or morning?
Both if you can. Night — use something thicker like a gel or ointment. Your eyes are partially open while you sleep and dry out. Morning — regular artificial tears to rehydrate. If you're only doing one, morning usually matters more.
Does a humidifier actually make that much difference?
More than you'd think. Indoor humidity in Canadian homes often sits around 20-30% in winter. That's desert levels. Bumping to 40-50% means less tear evaporation constantly. Some patients get more relief from a humidifier than from drops. Bedroom is the priority — you're there 7-8 hours.
About the Reviewer
Dr. Davinder Sidhu is an optometrist based in British Columbia with a focus on dry eye management and preservative-free solutions. Learn more at TheGenuwineOD.com or follow him on Instagram and Facebook.
Find Your Winter Dry Eye Solution
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Learn more about which at Home Remedies will help you and your dry eyes this winter. Winter Dry Eye Relief: Home Remedies and Best Products
