MIDLAND, Texas — Heavy winds have taken over the West Texas region and a TikTok has recently gone viral for a girl saying she found the perfect hack to combat dry eyes.
NewWest 9 visited Texas Country Eyecare to find out if this TikTok was a legitimate hack.
"It is safe," Texas Country Eyecare Optometrist Dr. Heather Golson said. "It's just a bland ointment. All it does - we use it in other treatments for different things. It's not going to hurt anything."
Dr. Golson explained that Vaseline simply prevents the eyes from drying out. In West Texas, people know how the weather can be.
"In the winter, we've got the dry air, we've got the wind, and then you've got central heat kicks in," Dr. Golson said. "People forget to drink their water in the winter, so people tend to get dehydrated, that's why your ski dries out. Dry air, dehydration, and then when you get a dry spot on the front surface, that triggers the nerves in the cornea to tell the brain I need tears, and then your eyes make a bunch of tears and it goes overboard and then your eyes start to run water."
Dr. Golson can confirm that there are no risks unless people go overboard with application.
Texas Country Eyecare Optician Mary Salinas highly recommends people to wear protective eyewear when facing cold and windy conditions.
"Definitely wearing the sunglasses helps protect the wind, protect your eyes from the wind and the dust, especially in West Texas," Salinas said. "Unfortunately, not your allergies, but your eyes yes. Definitely say wearing sunglasses all year-round."
The best advice? Hydration.
Dr. Golson described that as hydrating the body with water and the eyes with non-medicated artificial tears.
Hopefully, using eye drops two to four times a day will hopefully keep the optometrist away.