Screens and the Rise of Digital Dry Eye | with Dr Priya

Dry eye is now one of the most common eye complaints worldwide, with ever‑increasing daily screen use linked to higher odds of both dry eye symptoms and full‑blown dry eye disease.​

By December, days are shorter, and the light here in London feels thinner. Mornings are grey, afternoons vanish by 4 pm, and most of life seems to happen under overhead bulbs and through blue light screens that keep us wired long after dark. It’s the season of hot drinks, deadlines and “just one more episode”, and quietly, the season of eyes that sting, blur and feel older than they are.​

Recently, that awareness led me to an evening consultation with Dr Priya, an award-winning Oculoplastic surgeon and dry eye expert, whose career spans the NHS and private practice.

She’s watching the same story unfold across demographics: digital‑driven dry eye, made worse by modern indoor life. What I’d written off as “tired eyes” and end‑of‑year burnout turned out to be part of a bigger shift in how our eyes are coping with the way we live now.​

What is “digital dry eye”

Dry eye happens when your eyes do not produce enough healthy tears, or when those tears evaporate too quickly, so the surface of the eye is left exposed, inflamed and unprotected. The tear film itself is a three‑layered system: an oily lipid layer to slow evaporation, a watery layer for hydration and nutrients, and a mucin layer that helps tears spread evenly over the eye.​

When any part of that system breaks down, symptoms include stinging, a gritty sensation, light sensitivity, redness, or that constant urge to rub your eyes.

“Dry eye is definitely becoming more and more prevalent”, Dr Priya.

“We are spending a lot more time staring at a screen. Our jobs require us to use screens more, so our blink reflex is reducing. It’s having a massive impact on our tear film. Now more and more people are coming in with dry eye symptoms”​

Screens add another layer because when we focus on glowing devices, blink rate can drop by more than half, which means the tear film that normally coats and protects the eye is not being refreshed as often as it needs to be. Over time, that combination of reduced blinking and intense close‑up focus can destabilise the tear film and tip someone from “my eyes feel tired” into true digital dry eye.​

Why winter makes it worse

If summer is about squinting in bright light, winter is about dried‑out, under‑lit rooms. Central heating and cosy radiators lower indoor humidity, so any tears you do produce evaporate faster.

“We’re moving through extremes of temperature. You’ll be indoors with your central heating on, and it’s nice and warm, then you move outside, and it’s freezing. That tear film just evaporates when you’re going outside. But indoors, we’re in a dehydrated environment, so that in itself will dry out eyes.”​ Dr Priya.

Shorter days mean less natural light, more time indoors, and a greater dependence on screens for work, rest, and social life. It is a perfect storm: extended screen time, dry indoor air and fatigued bodies all stacking up on the same small, exposed surface – the front of the eye

Visible end‑of‑season burnout

By the time I sat in Priya’s chair, my symptoms felt like classic end‑of‑year burnout: blurred vision in the evenings, dryness and a desire to shut my eyes. However, she gently reframed the tiredness of another long year as something more structural.

Disrupted sleep and circadian rhythms from late nights, irregular bedtimes and darker days can change how comfortable our eyes feel and how well the tear film recovers overnight. So issues that present as “burnout”, such as headaches, difficulty concentrating and irritability, can also be the natural response of a sensory system pushed to work beyond what its current conditions comfortably allow.​

The consultation itself, an Eye Rejuvenation and Oculoplastic Consultation, was unironically, eye‑opening! In contrast to the rushed, symptom‑only encounters many of us experience in overburdened systems like the NHS, her approach at Lisa Franklin’s clinic was deliberately holistic. There was time to map my symptoms, lifestyle, skincare and medication; time to image my lids and glands; time to talk about nervous system load and winter mood. The ethos of the space, treating the whole person, not just the surface problem, runs through her work on dry eye.​

What Dr Priya sees

Clinically, dry eye is such a common complaint yet still widely misunderstood, affecting a significant portion of adults and increasingly being recognised in younger people too. Ageing, hormonal shifts, certain medications and inflammatory conditions all play a role, but prolonged screen use and environment now sit high on the list of triggers.​

“In younger patients, I see a lot of dry eye related to skin issues”

“Whether it’s acne and them being on Roaccutane, or whether it’s products that they’re using topically. That can have an impact on gland function and how they develop dry eye”

In older patients, especially women, she sees dry eye linked to hormonal imbalance and the accumulation of inflammatory conditions over time.

“Anything that’s pro‑inflammatory has a massive impact on your tear film. We haven’t actually been in this space, where we’re on screens for this long. We’re in that fetal stage of understanding what the radiation from all of these devices is actually doing to our eyes”.​

In winter, the patterns sharpen, with office and remote workers glued to dual screens, parents toggling between work laptops and phones, students studying late into dark evenings, and children and teenagers clocking several hours a day on tablets and phones. We are all, in different ways, testing the limits of the same fragile tear film.​

When your eyes and mind are tired

Living with dry, uncomfortable eyes is not just a physical nuisance; it quietly shapes how present, patient and productive you can be. Studies have linked dry eye with higher rates of anxiety, depression and chronic fatigue, suggesting that constant irritation, poor sleep and visual strain can chip away at quality of life over time. For parents, that might look like snapping at children after a long day at work; for students, rereading the same page three times because the words keep blurring; for older adults, avoiding night driving or social plans because their eyes feel too sore to cope. The point is not to pathologise everyday tiredness, but to notice when eye discomfort is one thread in a wider web of burnout, and to treat it with the same seriousness as you would back pain or insomnia.​

From lifestyle to treatment

Not all dry eye is the same. For many people, the core issue is meibomian gland dysfunction, when the tiny oil glands in the eyelids become blocked or sluggish. Warm compresses, eyelid hygiene and prescription drops are often the first line, but at Lisa’s clinic, Priya offers a fuller ladder of care that sits considerately between “just use drops” and invasive surgery.​

“At‑home treatments or regimes that I recommend are a heated eye wand, to heat the glands. I also recommend an okra‑based lash foam because okra is anti‑inflammatory, but it also doesn’t draw away moisture from the surface of the eye. And some really good lubricating drops just to use whilst you’re having treatment,” Dr Priya.

In‑clinic, she offers a multifaceted approach, including the Envision platform by InMode, which uses both intense pulsed light (IPL) and bipolar radiofrequency. These advanced, exclusive services are available at Lisa Franklin London & Clinic Privé.

“ All of my patients have their skin imaged, so I know whether they’re suitable, but the main point of my treatment is bipolar radiofrequency, and it’s revolutionary. In my experience, it’s completely transforming dry eye globally, not just here in the UK”.​

For patients who have cycled through drops and compresses without relief, this kind of technology offers a different route: targeting the underlying gland dysfunction rather than endlessly soothing the surface.​

Winter eye rituals that actually help

The hopeful part of this story is that small, consistent changes can make a real difference to how your eyes feel throughout the year, and especially in winter. Priya’s guidance and passion echoed current eye‑health advice, which includes:

• Turning it down. Keeping heating at a moderate, comfortable level and avoiding sitting right next to vents or radiators can help restore moisture to dry indoor air.​
• Blinking on purpose. Building in micro‑breaks and practising fully closing your eyes for a few slow blinks every 20 minutes when you are on screens can help reset the tear film and protect the surface.​
• Shielding your eyes outside. Wearing glasses or sunglasses in cold wind or bright winter sun can reduce evaporation and protect the ocular surface.​
• Cleansing with care. Using gentle, non‑drying lid cleansers rather than harsh products can lessen irritation.​

If discomfort is regular and affecting your vision or quality of life, a consultation like the one I had can tease apart what is lifestyle, what is environment, and what might need more targeted treatment.

A different kind of Care

“Digital dry eye” is, at its core, a story about how quickly our habits have changed, and how slowly our bodies are catching up. Eyes evolved for horizons and shifting daylight, not for spreadsheets and streaming Netflix under recycled air. Yet with a few intentional rituals and the right clinical support, it’s possible to move through winter with clearer, more comfortable vision.​

As the nights stretch on and the feeds keep rolling, this season’s quiet invitation might be simple: look up more often, blink on purpose, and treat your eyes tenderly.