Tears: Your Body’s Natural Eye Protection

Tears Your Body’s Natural Eye Protection

Did you know that your eyes can produce four to five gallons of tears throughout your lifetime? Remember that tears aren’t just for expressing your sadness and happiness. Your tears are essential in keeping your eyes cleaned and protected!

In the United States, as many as 25 million people are affected by dry eye syndrome annually. So it’s a common condition that you shouldn’t dismiss.  

Natural Protective Fluid

You place a tear or two across your eyes every time you blink. The tears wash away your eyes’ dust, dirt, and particulates. In addition, the natural fluid neutralizes microbes, particularly viruses and bacteria, which gather on your eyes’ surface.

The bottom line: Let your tears flow, not because you’re weak and weepy, but because your eyes need them!

When Tears Are Lacking

What happens when your tears won’t naturally come? Unfortunately, you may be in for dry eye syndrome, a painful and potentially eyesight-damaging issue.  

In dry eye syndrome, your tear ducts are malfunctioning so that they produce very few tears. You can experience a few or all of these symptoms:

  • Scratching sensation akin to sandpaper rubbing across your eyes
  • Increased sensitivity to light
  • Watery eyes, even though the dry eyes sensation is present
  • Increased difficulty in focusing your eyes
  • An unusual amount of squinting and blinking to rid yourself of the painful feeling

A wide range of factors can trigger dry eye syndrome. These include dust and dirt, dry air, low humidity, dirty contact lenses, medications, and blocked tear ducts.

Your doctor will ask detailed questions about the possible causes of your dry eyes. It would be best to tell him about your medications, such as antihistamines and antidepressants since they can cause dry eyes. You may submit an eye exam at Sear’s eye clinic since an underlying health condition may cause it.

Dry eyes may not seem as disturbing as age-related macular degeneration, chronic glaucoma, and cataracts. But these shouldn’t be dismissed since they can cause vision damage, even blindness.

Of course, the syndrome can go on for a long time before changes in your vision become noticeable. But why wait for irreversible damage to happen before seeing your eye doctor? Instead, you should call your eye doctor for an appointment to treat your condition.  

The doctor will likely prescribe over-the-counter medications designed to stimulate tear production. Your eye doctor will also recommend lifestyle steps, such as placing warm compresses over your eyes for a few minutes at a time.