Eye care tips to remember this festive season

Winter can be particularly harsh on your eyesight. With all the fun festivities that take place around this time of year, it’s easy to forget that  the colder weather conditions, darker nights and the winter activities we indulge in force our eyes to work much harder. With this in mind, we’ve highlighted some of the ways your eyes can be affected during wintertime and have provided our top tips to help prevent these causing your eyes any problems this year..

We’ve also created a festive visual as part of our #SeasonalSighting campaign, which you can find at the bottom of the post. You simply need to help Santa find his mischievous elf.

Party season

Winter is a season of endless events, with office Christmas parties, family get-togethers and going all out for New Year’s Eve. As a result, some people will ditch the glasses and opt for contact lenses instead. If you’re wearing them as a one-off for the big Christmas do then you may be unfamiliar with the necessary care that’s involved.

Wash your hands before you touch your eyes or contact lenses and ensure the lenses are clean and show no sign of damage before putting them in. Contact lenses can be irritating for some people and can dry out after a long evening, so be sure to take them out as soon as you get home.

If you’re wearing eye makeup to your festive get-together, make sure you follow the manufacturer’s recommendations and discard any products that are out of date. Also make sure you clean brushes and applicators regularly and don’t share your cosmetics with others as this can lead to eye infections.

Gifts that can affect your eyes

If there’s a new mobile phone, tablet, laptop or even book under your Christmas tree waiting to be unwrapped, this could be a gift that could have an effect on your eye health. The amount of time you spend on your new device can have a big impact on your eyes.

As tempting as it can be to spend a lot of time staring at your screen, especially if you’re off work or school over the festive period, try to give yourself a time limit or take regular breaks away from the screen. Prolonged exposure to screens can cause eye strain, blurred vision and dry, irritated eyes.

If you’re cosying up on the sofa with your new book and the lights down low, you may want to reconsider. Lower levels of light during winter can make reading much more difficult so instead, turn on an extra light and avoid straining your eyes.

Winter activities

Winter can be rough on your eyes, but many people pack away their sunglasses once summer has ended, forgetting that eyes need UV protection all year round. Winter activities such as snowboarding or skiing can put your eyes at risk.

Snow can reflect up to 80% of the sun’s rays, whereas beach sand only reflects 15%. So if you are hitting the slopes this winter, don’t forget your goggles as your eyes will be exposed to the sun’s rays in a way they are not used to and precaution is certainly needed.

Quite often during winter we experience overcast weather and this can be extremely deceptive.  Although the visible light is reduced, especially when compared to a clear and sunny day in the height of summer, UV light can still get through. So if you are spending time outside you should always have a pair of sunglasses close to hand.

Santa is very busy at this time of year; can you help him find his mischievous elf?

Did you manage to spot the elf? Scroll below to see if you got it right.