Young Vision Care - Travel Eye-Q

Air Travel

The artificially maintained cabin pressure and low humidity found on airplanes can be pretty tough on your eyes. The biggest culprit on long plane rides is dry eye syndrome-a frequently painful condition in which low humidity and a failure to produce enough natural tears can combine to leave a traveler's eyes feeling dry, scratchy, inflamed and blurry.

What's the best way to make sure dry eye doesn't spoil your next long-distance journey by air? Eye Care Providers recommend that patients take along one or two bottles of artificial tears. Put a few drops in your eyes before drifting off to sleep, and then refresh yourself with a few more drops once or twice later in the flight.

Bring along an extra set of glasses or contacts in case you lose your first pair.

Don't forget to pack contact lens cleaning and storage solutions.

Take a copy of the prescription for your lenses or contacts, again in case of loss.

If you are experiencing an eye condition before you depart, ask your eye doctor what you should do to monitor the condition-and what to do if it worsens.

Ask your eye doctor for the name, phone number, and address of an eye doctor in the area you will be visiting. That way, you can get help quickly from a reliable eye care professional if a vision problem should arise while you're traveling.