Sweat in the eyes
#1
Sweat in the eyes
Can someone give suggestions on how to keep sweat out of the eyes while riding? It is getting really hot and humid here in Atlanta. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Dave
Dave
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#4
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I have been using a Sweat Gtr. They do a pretty good job of directing sweat away from your eyes.
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A diet change. No, it won't stop the sweat but it will no longer sting - reduce salt intake big time. No, not all at once, but a gradual reduction of sodium intake will be accompanied by a reduction in salt in sweat and urine as the body adjust to maintain a healthy lever of sodium. We excrete sodium because we eat it. In cultures where salt is very expensive, the who are not wealthy eat very little, sweat very little and have no issues at all (except being proper hosts to us westerners who have to have the salt they cannot afford).
I tried this in my racing days and it worked very well. Sweat in my eyes didn't sting. I needed very little salt replenishment (but still needed the potassium, still ate the bananas and drank the E.R.G. (now Vitalyte). I never documented my sodium intake, but it was probably around 1000 mg/day, half the RDA. Tough to go much lower buying food in the US and at that, I basically could not eat processed food and even most prepared by others. Lots of reading ingredients and cooking from scratch.
Sorry, not the easy fix. And it also has the drawback of making all the food out there taste WAY TOO salty!
Ben
I tried this in my racing days and it worked very well. Sweat in my eyes didn't sting. I needed very little salt replenishment (but still needed the potassium, still ate the bananas and drank the E.R.G. (now Vitalyte). I never documented my sodium intake, but it was probably around 1000 mg/day, half the RDA. Tough to go much lower buying food in the US and at that, I basically could not eat processed food and even most prepared by others. Lots of reading ingredients and cooking from scratch.
Sorry, not the easy fix. And it also has the drawback of making all the food out there taste WAY TOO salty!
Ben
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#7
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I usually wear cotton bandannas. I have so many of 'em I can wear a fresh one every day for two weeks and still have some left over. It's mostly handy in humid weather when the sweat doesn't seem to evaporate quickly. On dry hot days the sweat evaporates quickly enough that I may not bother with a bandanna. This summer has been unusually humid.
Occasionally I'll ride without a bandanna. Of my three helmets the Bell Formula MIPS is best designed to channel sweat away from the forehead and eyes. It -- and some of the other Bells including the Z20 and Stratus -- have a sweat guide pad that works well. It channels sweat to a single point about an inch in front of the face, where it drips. Sometimes the wind blows it back, but it still works pretty well for folks who'd rather not wear a bandanna or anything else on their heads.
The POC is better ventilated (although the Bell is pretty good too), and the simpler harness and pad also seem to work pretty well.
Occasionally I'll ride without a bandanna. Of my three helmets the Bell Formula MIPS is best designed to channel sweat away from the forehead and eyes. It -- and some of the other Bells including the Z20 and Stratus -- have a sweat guide pad that works well. It channels sweat to a single point about an inch in front of the face, where it drips. Sometimes the wind blows it back, but it still works pretty well for folks who'd rather not wear a bandanna or anything else on their heads.
The POC is better ventilated (although the Bell is pretty good too), and the simpler harness and pad also seem to work pretty well.
#8
A diet change. No, it won't stop the sweat but it will no longer sting - reduce salt intake big time. No, not all at once, but a gradual reduction of sodium intake will be accompanied by a reduction in salt in sweat and urine as the body adjust to maintain a healthy lever of sodium. We excrete sodium because we eat it. In cultures where salt is very expensive, the who are not wealthy eat very little, sweat very little and have no issues at all (except being proper hosts to us westerners who have to have the salt they cannot afford).
I tried this in my racing days and it worked very well. Sweat in my eyes didn't sting. I needed very little salt replenishment (but still needed the potassium, still ate the bananas and drank the E.R.G. (now Vitalyte). I never documented my sodium intake, but it was probably around 1000 mg/day, half the RDA. Tough to go much lower buying food in the US and at that, I basically could not eat processed food and even most prepared by others. Lots of reading ingredients and cooking from scratch.
Sorry, not the easy fix. And it also has the drawback of making all the food out there taste WAY TOO salty!
Ben
I tried this in my racing days and it worked very well. Sweat in my eyes didn't sting. I needed very little salt replenishment (but still needed the potassium, still ate the bananas and drank the E.R.G. (now Vitalyte). I never documented my sodium intake, but it was probably around 1000 mg/day, half the RDA. Tough to go much lower buying food in the US and at that, I basically could not eat processed food and even most prepared by others. Lots of reading ingredients and cooking from scratch.
Sorry, not the easy fix. And it also has the drawback of making all the food out there taste WAY TOO salty!
Ben
Dave
#9
Non omnino gravis
Unless you've been diagnosed with high blood pressure, your sodium intake is fine. My salt loss through sweat is significant (it is the summer, after all) and a dietary change that reduced my sodium could have serious adverse effects.
The simple answer is a skullcap/doo-rag/headband under your helmet.
The simple answer is a skullcap/doo-rag/headband under your helmet.
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#10
Senior Member
I've been using Veo Strips this summer. I'm notorious in my club for being the guy you don't want to draft due to my excessive sweating. I'm not riding with the club right now but I'm riding a lot and it's been a pretty hot summer here in Austin also.
I wear a white skull cap and a veo strip just above my eyebrows and find the strip does the best job of diverting sweat I've experienced. The adhesive has no trouble keeping the strip in place throughout my 2-3 hour very sweaty rides. Just don't get them too close to your eyebrows unless you're looking to get some brow shaping done.
The obvious downside is they're single use, which makes them expensive if you ride a lot. I'm riding 4x a week, so I go through a box of 30 in about 7 weeks. For me though, they're worth it.
Made in the U.S. and invented by a guy from the Lake Tahoe area. Very personal service right now during their launch...there was a hand written thank you note in the package and after I provided a review, I got a short e-mail thanking me also. In a separate note, I also noted the cost and got a note back from them saying costs should go down as they ramp production.
I wear a white skull cap and a veo strip just above my eyebrows and find the strip does the best job of diverting sweat I've experienced. The adhesive has no trouble keeping the strip in place throughout my 2-3 hour very sweaty rides. Just don't get them too close to your eyebrows unless you're looking to get some brow shaping done.
The obvious downside is they're single use, which makes them expensive if you ride a lot. I'm riding 4x a week, so I go through a box of 30 in about 7 weeks. For me though, they're worth it.
Made in the U.S. and invented by a guy from the Lake Tahoe area. Very personal service right now during their launch...there was a hand written thank you note in the package and after I provided a review, I got a short e-mail thanking me also. In a separate note, I also noted the cost and got a note back from them saying costs should go down as they ramp production.
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#11
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No matter what you use, make sure to pull it down nearly to your eyebrows if it isn't working for you the first time you try it. Some do better than others, but none will do great if you don't find the position on you that they'll work well at.
I suffered for a couple months when over time, I got used to wearing my SweatVac further back on my head. I finally realized I needed to pull it down some in front and no more sweat in eyes.
I suffered for a couple months when over time, I got used to wearing my SweatVac further back on my head. I finally realized I needed to pull it down some in front and no more sweat in eyes.
#13
I stopped wearing cycling glasses. Not ideal because keeping debris and bugs out of eyes is important but I found when I wear them it’s significantly worse, and sweat drips onto the lens which makes me nuts.
Without them I get nice airflow on my face, and that keeps sweat rolling to the back of my head.
Without them I get nice airflow on my face, and that keeps sweat rolling to the back of my head.
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No matter what you use, make sure to pull it down nearly to your eyebrows if it isn't working for you the first time you try it. Some do better than others, but none will do great if you don't find the position on you that they'll work well at.
I suffered for a couple months when over time, I got used to wearing my SweatVac further back on my head. I finally realized I needed to pull it down some in front and no more sweat in eyes.
I suffered for a couple months when over time, I got used to wearing my SweatVac further back on my head. I finally realized I needed to pull it down some in front and no more sweat in eyes.
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#17
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This is probably a really bad idea, but what happens if you run some stick antiperspirant above your eyebrows?
#18
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DrIsotope. I was not suggesting a rapid change to a very low salt diet but one taking months to pull off. I started in the dead of winter and had it fine tuned maybe late July. I did not give up on using E.R.G., (now called Vitalyte) in all my waterbottles.
#19
I don't remember where I heard this but Vaseline or even Chapstick on your eyebrows directs the sweat out of your eyes. Works like a charm. Keeps your eyebrows from getting chapped, too. (Never melts and drips into your eyes, BTW.)
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Funny thought. Bag Balm would work just as well. But I would get a second tin of it.
#21
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I:m thinking getting some of that antiperspirant in your eyes could be really bad.
DrIsotope. I was not suggesting a rapid change to a very low salt diet but one taking months to pull off. I started in the dead of winter and had it fine tuned maybe late July. I did not give up on using E.R.G., (now called Vitalyte) in all my waterbottles.
DrIsotope. I was not suggesting a rapid change to a very low salt diet but one taking months to pull off. I started in the dead of winter and had it fine tuned maybe late July. I did not give up on using E.R.G., (now called Vitalyte) in all my waterbottles.
Cheers
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I've been using the Halo for so many years on my daily commutes, that I have a small depression in my forehead that the silicon strip fits into. Either that or I wear it a little lower than the helmet rim.
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#24
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A little headband. A lot of people recommended Halo but that was not available for me so I picked what looked like the next best thing on Amazon, Grip Grab or something, and it works wonders. It does get completely soaked as in, when I stop at the top of a climb I could wring it and lots of sweat drops out, but somehow even though it must surely be fully saturated, no sweat falls into my eyes any longer. And I tend to sweat quite a bit.
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I've been riding with/wearing a Walz cap for the past two years. The cap does a good job of keeping sweat out of my eyes. My issue though is the sweat landing on the inside of my sunnies, causing me visibility issues. Although I don't blame the that on the Walz cap. So, in short, I recommend the cap for you.