Conversation of the Week: Traveling With Dry Eye
Chronic dry eye can be tough to manage under basic conditions, but what if you are traveling? Exposing yourself to new triggers, blinking less if you are driving and not being in the comfort of your own home with all your tools can be scary to consider!
I just got home from a vacation with my family - 11 hour driving each way and spending time at the beach was tricky to navigate at times, but totally worth it. I've learned the best advice is "Take the trip" because I have my chronic dry eye whether I am at home or not and at least I can enjoy the beach! In September I plan on flying for the first time since having chronic dry eye.
So - let's hear your travel stories! How do you plan your trip? What do you take with you? What tips and tricks have worked for you while traveling and while you are in a new location? If you have stories of lessons learned those can be helpful too!
I started preparing a good month ahead. I have my "typical" dry eye routine and often I forget this or that, but for the month I made sure I did extra of my OTC drops in addition to the things I have to do. I had eye drops in my purse so I could use them during my stops. I stopped about every 2 hours to give myself a break from driving.
I made sure while at the beach to always have my sunglasses on except for a quick picture! I packed extras of everything and kept my routines while on vacation (especially the extras). I also bought some makeup wipes to keep my eyes and near my eyes very clean every morning and every night given the sunscreen and being out in the wind and the sand.
The past couple long drives (not as long as this one) I was having eye pain near the end of the drive so I was super nervous- no eye pain this time! I was super excited.
That's appreciatable! Self-care and precautions are important while travelling.
Most of the time when I travel, I'm doing a road trip and sometimes camping. I have my drops of course, and there are many hurdles involved. None of them are supposed to get hot, so I tend to keep them in my mini cooler the entire time. One time I was careless and in a hurry and came back to my car at 2 PM to find a bottle of Thera Tears hot to the touch. Oops.
The other big issue is Xiidra, because at home I'm used to rinsing it out of my eyes thoroughly after 5-10 minutes. Otherwise it will cause irritation, and I also store the vial in my fridge for a 2nd use. This isn't always possible when I'm on the road or camping. Sometimes I accidentally miss doses because I'm so busy and distracted. It's tough.
At home, I'm really good about lid hygiene and keeping my eyes clean, but when I travel this is more difficult. If I'm camping I just can't do the lid scrubs because I don't have a mirror and I would need to rinse the soapy stuff out of my eye. So I just skip it. I also tend to avoid night ointments and stick to Genteal gel when I travel because the gel will rinse out of my eye with a couple of eye drops, and the ointment won't.
Hot compresses? Can't do them without a microwave, unless you buy one of the battery powered ones.
My sleep mask and Press'n Seal work just fine even camping, but it's another thing to be careful with so it doesn't get dirty. Sandy places are the worst... it gets everywhere.
One thing I dread and fear when traveling or camping is getting a corneal abrasion. It has not happened yet, but if it did I'm not sure what I would do... especially if I was on a trail somewhere. In short, there's a lot of my dry eye routine I just skip because it's so much more difficult than at home.
when I first started using it I just left it in, and the irritation was unbearable so I asked the prescribing doctor what to do. He said it was okay to rinse it out with saline or preservative free drops after it's been in my eyes at least 5 mins for it to be absorbed. I tried a sample of Cequa and unfortunately it was even worse for me, so I just put up with Xiidra. -Jonathan, Patient LeaderI'm going to try that- thank you!
