To Moisture Chamber Wearers

[georgiav]

To those wearing moisture chamber glasses inside during the daytime --

Do you feel they are actually "trapping" moisture and helping you to retain the tears you do have, or simply protecting the eyes from air, heat, etc.? In other words, is it actually like a "steam-bath" effect for your eyes, or more to just protect against other possible irritants?

And for all you Veterans, do they seem to help most dry eye sufferers, or only a certain segment of our "population"?

[abbygirl]

I think they do both..I am wearing a pair of old swim googgles right now and they are fogging up like crazy but they sure are helping me during a particularly dry spell!!!

[bakunin]

I got a Wiley-X Airrage recently and i wore it last friday at work for the first time, and today outdoors.

Both, I think it keeps the tear from evaporating and protect the eyes from air contidioner, wind and cold.

It's the best thing i have tried til now to alleviate the symptoms. It is not as comfortable and good looking as the normal glasses, but it keeps my eyes feeling almost as normal as healthy eyes, even without any drops.

[spmcc]

Rebecca's got a great guide to moisture chambers. See http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...shopping-guide

[Guest]

Totally agree with everyone who has posted so far!

[Bill Sonoma County]

Georgiav and everyone else, this is a really good question, and Rebecca's diagram which is referenced in spmcc's post (above) is quite helpful. I have been fabricating my own moisture chamber glasses since 1986 and have two observations. (not much to offer for a quarter century of experience is it?) First is that moisture in the chamber comes from skin and eye structures, as evidenced by fogging of the inner surface of even incompletely sealed moisture chambers (especially in the cold), and is preferentially retained in the chamber, leading to increased humidity. And that's good. Second is that particulate contaminants are somewhat blocked from entering the moist chamber, even with imperfect sealing, while gaseous contaminants (smog, fragrances, harsh chemicals) still readily diffuse into the chamber. For those of us with very unstable or ultrasensitive corneal-tear systems, a little particulate exclusion is important. Of course water vapor is a gas and one can ask, if gaseous contaminants can diffuse inward, why doesn't water vapor diffuse outward (or dry air diffuse inward to phrase it differently). This water vapor diffusion does occur, with moisture production within the chamber being the reason that humidity in the chamber can be maintained higher than outside. Steeper moisture gradients (dry room air) or rapid replacement of dry eye at the outside interface of the chamber (wind) impair the ability to retain that moisture inside. Sorry to belabor the point, but I use these concepts in my daily decisions about how to navigate my environment. Hope it helps.