Hi
Perhaps I am not the only one having this problem; so maybe someone can give me some advice.
Quite often when I wake up my eyes are very dry, sometimes they even hurt when I open them.
After a few minutes, the problem is gone, so it is not really serious - but I am just wondering, could that be a sign that I am straining my eyes during sleep?
Palming before going to bed might help to avoid this, but usually I am so tired, that I just fall asleep immediately...
drink more water throughout the day (you might be dehydrated, and we lose a lot of water from sweat during sleep)
consume less salt (if your diet is right now too high in salt)
palm before sleeping ... this one helps me a lot, my eyes feel warm and moist when I palm in bed. I know what you mean about feeling way too tired to do it. Consider giving it a two week trial. See if it helps, and you just might also find that the time spent palming enhances the time spent sleeping, and overall you feel less tired (which makes it easier to continue this practice). But if after two weeks nothing changes, then just fall into bed and sleep!
Nini, hi -- a few minutes of Long Swing before you get into bed may relax your neck, shoulders, and especially your eyes so they move normally while you're asleep and don't get dried out. I like Sorrissi's suggestion to make sure you're hydrated enough, as many people aren't. Also, if you're really tired when you go to sleep, maybe you should be going to bed a little earlier? Finally. if you're not sleeping well, make sure the bedroom is dark and quiet, and get some exercise during the day so your body is ready to rest at night and is not "restless".
Thanks a lot for your suggestions, Sorrisi and Nancy.
I'll certainly try them.
Regarding dehydration - I really drink a lot, but perhaps a bit too much of coffee; it would certainly be better do drink only water in the evening - one thing more to try.
Coffee (or any other caffeinated drink) is de-hydrating rather than hydrating, as the body has to use its own water to wash out the toxin. Also, it will make you think you're awake when you're not, and put you out of touch with your body's natural wake/sleep rhythms, which is not really a good thing. I'd limit it to the morning if you can.
At least you encounter the dry eye problems after waking up in the morning. But in my case I feel this way the entire day. My wife thinks the smoking habit might have something to do with the problem. As I see relation with some of the products that can affect the eyes have been mentioned here. Can you suggest friends if smoking has something to do with dry eye?
Also I have heard of specific contact lenses that can be helpful in such dry eye situations. Please let me know about them too if they can help me overcome the problem.
hereford_picnic, you can probably find a study to prove almost anything, and if coffee is a mild diuretic or a strong one, or whether it's espresso or watered-down swill are all factors. I don't drink coffee, but do drink caffeinated tea in the morning, and if I have more than 2 cups I can feel my mouth drying out. As always, I'd go by your own experience here and not blindly rely on some expert. Plus different body types have different levels of hydration to begin with -- too many variables to make a blanket statement that works for everyone, I guess, but I still think coffee can dehydrate you if you drink too much. Don't take my word: try it for yourself.
gerabedo, dry eyes in the daytime can also come from being de-hydrated, or from not having enough healthy oils in your diet (the tear film is part oil), or from not blinking enough. Cigarette smoke drifts upward into your eyes and dries them out -- stand in front of a big bonfire for a few minutes and you'll feel your whole face get drier. Smoking is bad for you on many levels, and I'd do what I could to eliminate it from my life. The older people I know who smoke have more facial wrinkles from squinting against the smoke and from it drying out their skin, so give it up just for vanity if that motivates you.
Nancy, thanks for your opinion. That was what I was hoping to get, I'm not arguing anything. I have also read contradicting results of different studies. And I don't drink coffee unless it's Irish. What if (and this is a big maybe) caffeine works this way: it stimulates you (emotions) and makes you breathe more. This way it dries you and it might have nothing to do with it being a diuretic. What do you think?
Some years ago I couldn't drink tea more than one cup a day. If I drank more, I would get symptoms. But now, with a more relaxed attitude, I can drink as much as I like.
hereford_picnic, yes anything can be over-done. Caffeine is a stimulant that in small doses ("small" is different for everyone) can improve athletic performance and alertness, but if over-done which is so tempting in this "more is better" Super Size Me! culture, can make you jittery and negatively impact performance. Caffeine does increase respiration and heart beat, speeding you up. So yes, this could contribute to eliminating water from the body faster too. As I said earlier, go by your own experience as to whether it's good for you or not.
Nini Wrote:Hi Perhaps I am not the only one having this problem; so maybe someone can give me some advice.
Quite often when I wake up my eyes are very dry, sometimes they even hurt when I open them.
After a few minutes, the problem is gone, so it is not really serious - but I am just wondering, could that be a sign that I am straining my eyes during sleep?
Palming before going to bed might help to avoid this, but usually I am so tired, that I just fall asleep immediately...
Please splash cold water into your eyes as often as possible. Always splash cold water into your eyes when you wake up and always before you go to bed.
I know smoke from fires or cigarettes causes irritation to my eyes and can result in dry red eyes. As far as waking up with dry eyes, it could be from lack of water or it could be caused by the environment. For instance, if you spend time in a smoky environment at work or at night, that could lead to dry eyes and it could get worse as you sleep, but you don't notice it until you wake.
That's a good point, but I am not exposed to cigarette smoke at work and I don't smoke myself nor anyone else in my family.
When I was wearing contact lenses, I had quite often dry eyes during the day and had to take them out for a few hours. Most probably they were dry in the morning after sleep, too (I didn't pay much attention to that as I had this problem all day long).
Since I stopped wearing contact lenstes (about 8 months ago), I don't have dry eyes any more during the day; only in the mornig as described above.
As I've read, that it is possible to strain the eyes even during sleep, I thought, maybe this could be the reason.
At least you encounter the dry eye problems after waking up in the morning. But in my case I feel this way the entire day. My wife thinks the smoking habit might have something to do with the problem. As I see relation with some of the products that can affect the eyes have been mentioned here. Can you suggest friends if smoking has something to do with dry eye? 