Wildfire smoke and inflammation

[hopeful_hiker]

I went to see my doc last week for the third time. My inflammation was moderate on the first visit, non-existent on the second, and present again on this visit.
The doctor told me not to worry because they see it every year. Inflammation goes up during the wildfire season.
If you are on the West Coast, keep that in mind. I almost never feel burning (I usually feel dryness or blinking pain) but today I noticed burning sensation when outdoors. Sticking to AC'd environments for now.

[diydry]

This is super interesting. I guess I shouldn’t freak out if I get a flare up this summer with all the fires happening. So are we to believe that it’s the wild fire smoke causing inflammation or just the dry season in general? When I was living back east, the winters were the worst on my dry eyes because they’re incredibly dry (15% humidity). Yet on the west coast (or at least California) the “dry season” is technically the summer, hence the wild fires. So it makes sense that west coast doctors would see more inflammation in the summer. Ideally, we could spend summers on the east coast and winters on the west coast!

[farmgirl]

Nope it is not inflammation, did you ever get a whiff of smoke in your pre-problem eyes and they burned and watered for a few seconds. Turns out that there are particles in smoke that stick to the eyeball and cause the burning. People with dry eye are vulnerable because they don't have a good tear film to wash the particles away.

Exposure to smoke on any level can cause irritation to your eyes—symptoms such as burning sensations, redness, and tearing up are commonplace with exposure to smoke. Robert N. Weinreb MD, a distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of California San Diego, claims that “even a healthy person’s eyes can be bothered” when it comes to smoke exposure and, particularly in the case of those with dry eye syndrome, “exacerbate symptoms.”

What causes this irritation is the existence of small particles, which are two and one half microns or less in size (for reference: 25,400 microns = 1 inch), within the smoke that get stuck in your eyes. These particles are too small to be seen with the naked eye. These particles can remain floating in the air long after the smoke has cleared, so if you are around fire or a place where large amounts of fire have been recently, many firefighters recommend the use of protective eyewear.

[hopeful_hiker]

farmgirl Yes, so the idea is that MMP9 is elevated because of the irritation from particles. I am speculating that the eyes are trying to rid themselves of foreign bodies in turn elevating the inflammation.

[farmgirl]

farmgirl Yes, so the idea is that MMP9 is elevated because of the irritation from particles. I am speculating that the eyes are trying to rid themselves of foreign bodies in turn elevating the inflammation.

Who knows...possibly it factors in but from experience I know that smoke from that campfire that gets into your eyes causes an immediate reaction, not at all related to inflammation. The compromised tear film of dry eye sufferers allows the particles to stick to the eyeball and there is not enough tear to flush them out so smoke exposure is particularly bad for us.

[hopeful_hiker]

The compromised tear film of dry eye sufferers allows the particles to stick to the eyeball and there is not enough tear to flush them out so smoke exposure is particularly bad for us.

Indeed, even regular people get irritated eyes from smoke and ozone, but we are in a way an “at risk population” that no one talks about.