A commonly asked question that has recently been coming up at every eye examination relates to increased dry eye sensation since COVID-19 started. My patients have been reporting a significant increase in stinging, redness, burning, tearing and fogging vision. While the Alberta Association of Optometrists have published reports that up to 7/10 Albertans could be suffering from dry eye, the amount of complaints I am getting is out of the ordinary for this time. So today I would like to address possible issues that may be causing these changes.
Mask induced dry eye (MADE)
One of my University of Waterloo optometry school professors recently published an article (found here on Global News) discussing this. Wearing a mask has been proving to help slow and reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other aersol transmitted viruses, however as we all know there are other issues that also occur as a result of wearing these masks. MADE is likely a result of changes in air flow, the mask causes the air to vent upwards towards your eyes. This breeze causes your tears to evaporate quickly resulting in a drying out of your cornea. As the cornea dries up this causes damage to the outer layer of the cornea (known as the epithelial layer) and causes nerve endings which normally would not be exposed to activate resulting in a stinging or burning sensation. Once this damage happens it can take up to 24 hours for the damage to be repaired and this generally occurs at night time, so don’t expect that feeling to go away until the next day. To prevent this from occurring I recommend that you make sure your mask fits well especially around the nose, inserting a tissue can help to make loose masks more snug. This will also help prevent your glasses from fogging up as well!
Environmental changes related to working from home
Working from home has lots of benefits, mostly pajama related, however there are some things people forget about when working from home. Some of my patients have forgotten the importance of ergonomics and the role it plays in ensuring comfortable working posture. Most of us never imagined the quarantine going on this long but as it extends it’s important for us to acknowledge that us sitting hunched over on our couch with our bag of chips and our laptops might not be the best position for us to be in for 8 hours, so make sure your are making an effort to create a comfortable and healthy work space in your home to do your work. No guarantees this will change your work efficiency but its always nice to have a separate place to work and relax.