Common Summer Eye Problems in Colorado

Is the Urge to Rub Your Eyes Driving You Crazy?

Once eye allergies and other summer eye problems get hold of you, you can be miserable the whole summer long, especially in Colorado’s dry and frequently hot summer weather. Allergens, smoke, even frequent transitions from air conditioning to outdoor heat all add stress and irritation to your eyes. What can you do to moisten your dry eyes, calm down your angry red eyes, and stop that endless itching?

The feeling will often go away indoors or in the evening, and lubricating eye drops or ones for allergies can also help. Don’t forget, common eye issues can also mask or lead to more serious ones, so a visit to our eye doctors in the Front Range at ICON Eyecare for relief can help in two ways: check your eyes for any problems and give you more ways to comfort your eyes.

High Altitude is Hard on the Eyes

Dry summer weather in Colorado can produce temporary dry eyes, requiring eye drops and perhaps some eye doctor advice to make sure your eyes stay lubricated. A year-round risk of high-altitude living is corneal burns. It’s one reason people who live and play around the Rocky Mountains wear UV protective sunglasses.

Since we’re closer to the sun with thinner air here, we’re exposed to more of the sun’s rays, especially UV. Corneal burns, also known as “flash burns” from welding, happen when UV light burns the surface of the eye, with symptoms of mild to severe pain, blurry vision, heavy tears, light sensitivity, bloodshot eyes, and a feeling that there’s some material in your eye. First aid is closing your eyes and draping a cool cloth over them, perhaps with some ice on top, but nothing colder. Simple eye drops can help in our dry climate, and your eye doctor can provide special ones that specifically help the corneas to heal.

Summer Eye Problems from the Pool

Swimming eye problems include irritation and infection. Chlorine can irritate the eyes, and eye goggles during or lubricating eye drops after swimming will help them stay comfortable. Bacterial or viral conjunctivitis, an eye infection, and chemical irritations of the conjunctiva, the eye’s mucous membranes, sometimes occur from swimming and should be treated by your eye doctor.

Contact lenses should not be worn while swimming, for a variety of reasons. One of the more serious ones is Acanthamoeba keratitis, infection from common amoeba often present in water. This condition can cause corneal ulcers and severe eye problems, with the risk increasing when contacts hold the amoeba close to the eye.

We’re Here for Your Summer Eye Problems and Vision Improvement Options

While you’re visiting us for summer eye issues, or if you’re doing fine and just want to improve your vision, ask us about cataract and LASIK surgery in the Denver metro area from some of the area’s top ophthalmologists. Our team of eye doctors and specialists, many of whom are researchers and experts in their fields, can offer a variety of treatment options for your eye care.