5 ways to avoid dry eyes

Your eyes are the most sensitive organs in your body, so it's important to take all the precautions to keep them safe and irritation-free. Wearing protective eyewear (particularly wraparound sunglasses), paired with contact lenses featuring a UV filter can provide excellent overall protection. everclear ELITE, for example, are ultra-comfortable daily lenses, great for dry and sensitive eyes, with a high water content, and UV protection blocking harmful UVA and UVB rays. If after a day of outdoor adventuring, your eyes are still feeling dry, you can rehydrate your lenses with eye drops or even take out your lenses, try some eye exercises, apply a warm compress or give your eyes a gentle wash, removing any irritants from the eyelashes and the lower eyelids.

With work and daily life involving many hours of screen time, it's hard to give those eyes a much-needed rest. But as staring at your computer screen while concentrating causes you to blink less, possibly resulting in dry eyes and digital eye strain, it's essential to take regular breaks. We recommend that you pull yourself away from that display throughout the day, whether it's to make a cup of tea or enjoy a saunter in the garden.

If in doubt, just remember the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes look away from your screen for 20 seconds, at an object that's 20 feet away. Simply setting up your equipment correctly if you're working from home can also minimise eye strain - position your screen at eye level, more than 40cm away, and adjust the brightness and the font size to stop that squinting.

Undoubtedly, contact lenses can become a big part of your everyday life, so we won't ask you to part with them for too long! However, switching to your glasses for at least one day a week is a good move, allowing your eyes to breath without any restrictions. When you're asleep is another opportunity for your eyes to rehydrate, and if you're still unsure, sleeping with your lenses in is a big no-no. This can limit the amount of oxygen and moisture that reaches your eye, causing another level of eye dryness, which requires plenty of eye drops in the morning to compensate. If you're after contact lenses that you can kip in, speak to your optometrist about extended wear lenses. Designed with highly permeable silicone hydrogel, these lenses are an ideal solution for those short on time for ample eye care, with busy schedules.