Dry Eye in the city – it can be tough out there…

The Dry Eye Zone Office Survival Guide

Dry eye symptoms such as irritated, stinging, tired, and dry feeling eyes continue to be among the top-two reported acute symptoms in modern office-like environments. The office can be a challenging place if you have dry eyes, but an estimated 1 in 5 of the UK workforce, that’s around 6.5 million people, still face this often less than dry eye friendly conditions on a daily basis. When you include hybrid workers this number gets far higher.

Why is office work a dry eye nightmare?

Where do we start! Most offices are air-conditioned which means the air is drier than usual, this results in more rapid evaporation of water from the surface of the eye. This can lead to classic dry eye symptoms such as tired, dry, gritty, sore feeling eyes. A study of offices across Europe stated that the incidence of dry eye among office workers was estimated to be 20–40%. But the hazards do not stop there; long periods of screen work, harsh lighting and lack of functional windows all play their part.

Screen based jobs put you at higher risk

A web-based study of 233 volunteers was conducted via an e-survey which showed an acceleration of ocular symptoms linked with a rise in digital time. Many classic dry eye symptoms were reported such as blurred vision, watery, tired, red and dry eyes, the incidence was reported by 64–90% of computer users after prolonged use.

The reason for this elevated level of dry eye is because of how your blink rate is disrupted. Your normal relaxed blink rate is about 12-15 blinks per minute, but when you look at a screen something happens to the rate at which we blink our eyes. It is not a conscious thing you can control but as you concentrate your blink rate slows down by almost 70%. This reduced blink rate means that less tears are released to spread across your eye as part of the natural ocular hydration process. Fewer tears can result in dry spots on the surface of the eye where the sensitive cornea is exposed hence the dry eye symptoms.

Work productivity can take a hit

A study published in the journal Ophthalmology involving over 500 dry eye sufferers reported that dry eye resulted in a loss of work productivity and that as symptoms became worse so did the reduction in effectiveness. In another study the level of work impairment and absence was identified as being similar to other chronic medical conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome or in more severe cases depression.

To try to put this in some perspective, the OSDI questionnaire is a recognised way of putting a score against the level of dry eye being experienced. A team of researchers were able to demonstrate that for every 10 points on the OSDI there was an associated loss in work productivity of almost 5%. This might not sound like much but mild dry eye has an OSDI score of 13-22, and in this study the average level of impairment when performing everyday work activities was nearly 25%. It is easy to see why dry eye needs to be taken seriously by both employers and employees serious about their careers.

What can you do to protect your eyes in the office – the Dry Eye Zone office survival guide

1. Bring your eye drops to work and use them (even before symptoms start) throughout the day to keep your eyes moist. Make sure you select a drop specifically formulated for dry eye, these are almost always preservative-free.

2. If you are working at a screen then make sure you take regular breaks. The 20-20-20 rule has been demonstrated to work. This means every 20 minutes you look at an object 20 meters away for 20 seconds.

3. Help promote your eyes natural moisturising by encouraging tear flow. You can do this by slowly closing your eyes and hold for 2 seconds, slowly open your eyes and close them again, this time squeeze them tight for 2 seconds and release for 3 seconds. Open your eyes. Repeat 5 times. You can find more dry eye exercises here.

4. It is not always possible to alter the air-conditioning or heating level so ask about the possibility of a humidifier near your work station to help your symptoms. Given the impact of dry eye on productivity it might be a wise investment.

5. Be gentle with your eyes by lowering the amount of glare from your screen by turning down the brightness. This can feel more relaxing to the eye. You can also make sure your screen is positioned away from light sources which will cause glare on the screen.

6. Avoiding keeping your eyes wide open as you work will help slow the rate of tear loss from your eyes. You can do this by angling your screen or adjusting your seat so you are looking slightly downwards.

7. Don’t make your eyes work harder than they have to – increase the print size on your screen a little to make things easier to read at a glance

8. Wear wrap around glasses, there are lots of stylish options out there so you do not have to worry about appearances and they will help protect your eyes.

Interestingly, although it is important to make sure you are not dehydrated for general good health by drinking the recommended 8 glasses of water each day, a large-scale study (over 70,000 people) showed that drinking higher levels of water did not reduce dry eye symptoms.

Always seek professional advice

Although the Dry Eye Zone office survival guide will certainly help to keep those symptoms at bay there is always a need to have your eyes examined by an eye care professional. This is because dry eye is a complex ocular disease with potentially multiple overlapping causes. There are a growing number of independent opticians who are specialists in this area and will be able to tell you what type of dry eye you have and the best management strategies for you. If you do not have an eye care professional then contact the Dry Eye Zone and we will put you in contact with a practitioner in your area.

Make sure you explore the many links in this blog to bring more depth to the subjects touched on here and to help give you a fuller knowledge of all things dry eye related.

You can learn more about all things dry eye related at the DRY EYE ZONE. Don’t forget to subscribe to the regular free information and research updates.

If you are experiencing dry eye symptoms then you should ask the advice of your eye care professional. Why not book your next eye examination with an independent optician today.

Sources:

Work Place Insights. Sarah Bean. Majority of UK workers sit at their desk between four and nine hours a day.

October 18, 2018. Accessed 19 July 2025. https://workplaceinsight.net/uk-office-workers-may-sit-at-their-desk-for-up-to-nine-hours-a-day/

Office for National Statistics. People in work - Employment data covering employment rates, hours of work and earnings. July 2025 data. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork

HRD Connect. Employee Experience. Jan 9, 2024. https://www.hrdconnect.com/2024/01/09/81-of-uk-workers-work-from-home-why-do-senior-leaders-want-them-in-the-office/  Accessed 19 July 2025.

Greco G, Pistilli M, Asbell PA, Maguire MG; Dry Eye Assessment and Management Study Research Group. Association of Severity of Dry Eye Disease with Work Productivity and Activity Impairment in the Dry Eye Assessment and Management Study. Ophthalmology. 2021 Jun;128(6):850-856. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2020.10.015. Epub 2020 Oct 15. PMID: 33068617; PMCID: PMC8046838.

Peder Wolkoff, Dry eye symptoms in offices and deteriorated work performance – A perspective, Building and Environment,

Volume 172, 2020, 106704, ISSN 0360-1323, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.106704.

Yvonne de Kluizenaar, Célina Roda, Nienke Elske Dijkstra, Serena Fossati, Corinne Mandin, Victor G. Mihucz, Otto Hänninen, Eduardo de Oliveira Fernandes, Gabriela V. Silva, Paolo Carrer, John Bartzis, Philomena M. Bluyssen, Office characteristics and dry eye complaints in European workers–The OFFICAIR study, Building and Environment,

Volume 102, 2016, Pages 54-63, ISSN 0360-1323, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2016.03.013.

Miller KL, Walt JG, Mink DR, et al. Minimal Clinically Important Difference for the Ocular Surface Disease Index. Arch Ophthalmol. 2010;128(1):94–101. doi:10.1001/archophthalmol.2009.356

Nguyen L, Magno MS, Utheim TP, Jansonius NM, Hammond CJ, Vehof J. The relationship between habitual water intake and dry eye disease. Acta Ophthalmol. 2023 Feb;101(1):65-73. doi: 10.1111/aos.15227. Epub 2022 Aug 8. PMID: 35941821; PMCID: PMC10087849.

Abusharha AA. Changes in blink rate and ocular symptoms during different reading tasks. Clin Optom (Auckl). 2017 Nov 20;9:133-138. doi: 10.2147/OPTO.S142718. PMID: 30214369; PMCID: PMC6118863.