How dust storms can damage your eye health

With dust storms, comes dryness and irritation in the eyes — That's because there are fine and coarse particles in the air that come in contact with our eyes.

Particles as small as car combustion and as big as a grain of sand get into our eyes, and local optometrist Dr. Samuel Favela says it can harm the retina and cornea.

"Those could be an issue, so you have to go in there and kind of remove the little particles because they get stuck on the cornea, or they get stuck underneath the lid," says Favela. "So you have to physically remove them."

Favela says environmental elements like pollen, dust and air pollutants can create oxidative stress — the lack of oxygen to the cells of the eye — damaging the cells and leading to vision loss.

To prevent damage, you can wear protective eyewear so particles don't go into the eye.

The optometrist also shares advice on how to relieve the dryness and irritation.

"Some over-the-counter lubricating drops, and most of the time they do work well, it kind of rinses off the eye a little bit," said Favela.

He also says if the issue continues after using eye drops, then you should get your eyes checked out by a doctor.