Pay attention to your tears
As many as 80 percent of people suffer from some level of dry eyes, says North, and, counterintuitively, if your eyes are watering, you might be one of them. Thats because tears are made of water and oil; when there isnt enough oil in the mix, our eyes try to compensate by producing more water. A wide range of factors can cause dry eye, such as prescriptions (including some antidepressants and blood pressure meds), having a dry home, wearing contact lenses and even spending extended periods of time reading. Long stretches of screen time are especially problematic, because we slow our blink rate when were looking at a computer or tablet. Frequent full blinks are needed to refresh the layer of moisture across the surface of the eye and keep the oil glands functioning properly. Weve seen a huge uptick in dry eye in my practice recently because of the amount of increased screen time due to the pandemic, says North.(Related:7 Things That Could Happen If You Keep Rubbing Your Eyes)