A possible symptom of dry eye is, ironically enough, watery eyes. Certain symptoms of dry eye such as redness, itching, and irritation, are intuitive. However, many people with dry eye also experience watery eyes. How can that be?
Dry eye is typically caused by either an underproduction of tears, or a problem with the tear film that leads to them evaporating too quickly. This leads to the familiar dry eye irritation and similar symptoms.
Eye drops, also known as artificial tears, are commonly used to lubricate the eyes in place of the natural tears that aren’t being produced.
So why do patients still experience dry eye symptoms while their eyes are watery?
Watery eyes are the result of the body attempting to compensate for the dryness of the eyes. In some cases, the body tries to make up for the dryness it is experiencing by producing more tears to protect the eyes.
However, what can happen is that instead of more proper tears being produced, there is an overproduction of the watery portion of the tears. Due to these tears not having the proper composition, they evaporate too quickly to have the intended effect of lubricating the eyes, leading to watery eyes without doing much at all to relieve the dry eye symptoms.
There are many reasons why your eyes may be watery, one of the more common reasons is dry eye. As counterintuitive as it might sound, watery eyes can in fact be a symptom of dry eye, as the body attempts to correct the problem. If you are experiencing watery eyes or other symptoms of dry eye, you can contact American Family Vision Clinic (360) 491-2121 to schedule an appointment. As with all cases of dry eye, it is very important for an eye doctor to thoroughly assess the root cause of your problem before attempting to treat the symptom.
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