Acharya Balkrishna, co-founder of Patanjali Yogpeeth, put up a Facebook post this summer with some advice on taking care of your eye in the heat. Not the most obvious topic — most people think about sunscreen and hair masks when summer rolls around — but he made a fair point that eyes take a beating this time of year too.
UV rays and eye damage
His main concern was UV rays, and honestly, it’s a legitimate one. Sunlight carries UVA and UVB radiation, both of which can quietly damage eye tissue over time. We’re talking cataracts, photokeratitis (basically a sunburn on your eyeball), pterygium, and in some cases macular degeneration. The WHO has flagged UV exposure as a real risk factor for all of these.
Summer makes things worse for a couple of reasons. Days are longer, the sun is more direct, and reflective surfaces — water, sand, even concrete — bounce UV rays right back up at your face. Your eyes end up getting hit from multiple angles, not just from above.
Wearing a wide-brimmed hat
Balkrishna’s first suggestion was simple: wear a hat with a wide brim when you step out. Not groundbreaking advice, but ophthalmologists actually back this one up. A brim of around 7–8 cm can block a good chunk of the UV that sunglasses alone miss — especially the light coming in from the sides or bouncing up from below. Sunglasses and a hat together cover a lot more ground than either one on its own.
Drinking enough water
His second point was about hydration — specifically, drinking three to four litres of water a day through summer. He connected this to eye lubrication, and mentioned xerophthalmia as a condition that can result from severely dry, moisture-deficient eyes.
Xerophthalmia is technically tied to vitamin A deficiency, and in serious cases it can lead to blindness — it’s more of a concern in areas with poor nutrition access. But the broader point about hydration and eyes isn’t wrong. Your eyes are covered by a thin tear film that keeps the surface moist, clear, and protected. When you’re dehydrated, tear production drops, and you start noticing it — irritation, redness, that gritty feeling, blurry vision.
In summer, you’re sweating more and losing water faster, so the baseline for “enough water” goes up. Keeping fluid intake consistent is one of those small things that genuinely makes a difference for eye comfort, even if most people don’t think about it that way.