Flying with dry eye can be scary at first, but I've done it plenty of times now, including long-haul, while spending some of my life living abroad in Southeast Asia. After enough practice, I've got my routine down. Here's exactly what works for me.
I've done a lot of flying, including 12-hour long-hauls and a couple of trips to Canada and back, which is a good 24 hours of travelling each way. So I've had plenty of practice, and I've got my products down to what genuinely helps me. If you're dreading your first flight with dry eye, I hope this takes some of the fear out of it.
Planes are brutal for dry eyes because of how dry the air gets. You're sitting there for hours in recycled, air-conditioned air, and it's about the worst possible environment for a dry eye. For me it doesn't just dry my eyes out, it dries my skin out too, so I end up reapplying moisturiser throughout as well.
The annoying part is that it doesn't wait until you're on the plane. I find airports just as difficult, because it's that same air-conditioned, dry air inside the terminal. So I start prepping as soon as I get to the airport, sometimes before.
On the morning of a flight, I do my warm compress and then use my heated, vibrating eye wand (the Peep Club Heated Eye Wand) afterwards, to get my oils flowing and my eyes in the best possible condition before I set off. Going in with your eyes already calm and well-lubricated makes a real difference to how the flight goes.
Flying is one of the times I use night-time eye ointment during the day. It's thicker than drops and holds moisture in for longer. I put some in as soon as I get to the airport, or even just before, to keep my eyes okay through the terminal, and then top up with drops as needed in the lead-up to boarding.
Once I'm on board, I reapply the ointment every four hours or so, to keep as much moisture locked in as possible, and then I use drops as and when I need them. I use drops a lot more on a plane than I do in everyday life.
The last couple of times I flew, I added an oil-based drop to my arsenal, and they've been really good for flying. Here's the trick I read online and found genuinely helpful: put a normal lubricating drop in first (I use HycoSan Extra, but use whatever works for you), and then put the oil-based drop in on top. The one I use is EvoTears, which is the same active ingredient (perfluorohexyloctane) as the drop sold as Miebo in the US, where it's prescription-only. In the UK you can just buy EvoTears online. Someone online described the oil drop as "the cling film around your sandwich," because it seals that first drop in and stops it evaporating so fast. That image has stuck with me, and it's exactly how they work. (These drops are new and worth a proper explainer, so I'm writing about them separately, coming soon.)
I'm honestly not sure electric heated eye pads are allowed on planes, as some have a USB plug, and I've never tried, so I wouldn't rely on that. What I do take are the single-use self-heating eye masks you can buy in Boots. You take one out of the packet, snap it to activate (a bit like a glow stick), and it warms up so you can rest it on your eyes. I bring a few and use them if my eyes need warming at any point. (Bruder also do a well-known reusable mask, but I'd want to double-check what's plane-friendly before recommending a specific one, so I'll add those later.)
If I had to pick the single most important thing for flying, it's shielding my eyes to trap moisture. There are a few ways to do it, at every budget.
A dry-eye sleep mask. I have a BlinkJoy sleep mask that comes with silicone inserts, specifically made for dry eye, because the silicone holds the moisture around your eyes. I've only had it for my last few flights and I love it, I wouldn't fly without it now.
Moisture chamber glasses. These look like normal glasses (I believe you can even get prescription lenses put in them) but they have silicone shields around the outer edges, so you don't get that irritating airflow from the cabin vents. Mine are a 7eye pair. These are brilliant for when you need to stay awake and alert, so they're especially handy if you're travelling with children and can't just close your eyes for the whole flight.
The budget hack. Before the BlinkJoy mask, I had a see-through silicone eye mask, almost like a pair of goggles. Honestly? You don't have to spend a fortune. You could wear a cheap pair of silicone goggles, or even swim goggles, to trap the moisture. I used to be too embarrassed to wear my clear silicone ones, so I'd put them on and then wear a normal sleep mask over the top, and no one could see them at all. Problem solved.
I tend to travel solo, so I can get away with keeping my eyes closed for most of the flight, which is what works best for me. I put my ointment in, put my drops in, get my sleep mask on, and then just try to keep my eyes shut for the majority of the flight, with an audiobook or a film playing to listen to.
I know that isn't possible for everyone, especially if you're travelling with children or you need to stay alert. That's exactly where the moisture chamber glasses come into their own, because you can keep your eyes protected while still being awake and getting on with things.
Stay as hydrated as you can. I fill up my big water bottle at the airport before I board and make a real effort to keep sipping all the way through the flight. I don't drink alcohol on flights anymore, because it dehydrates you even more, and you feel that in your eyes. I also used to be a window-seat person, but I've switched to the aisle, so I can get up for the toilet as often as I need, since I'm drinking so much more water.
I used to be so self-conscious about putting drops in next to people that I'd take them to the toilet and sneak them in. After eight years and goodness knows how many flights, I genuinely do not care anymore. It's a health problem, a drop takes two seconds, and no one is really watching. So please don't be embarrassed about putting drops in, or wearing a sleep mask, or goggles, or whatever it takes to make your eyes comfortable. Look after yourself first.
More of my journey: How I got diagnosed → · My IPL experience → · Living abroad with dry eye, coming soon.