What Is Dry Eye?

Understanding why dry eye develops is an important first step toward finding an appropriate way to manage it.

Schedule an Eye Exam
a woman getting her hair brushed by a hair stylist

How Do Tears Keep Your Eyes Healthy?

Tears do much more than make your eyes feel wet. Every time you blink, a thin layer of tears called the tear film spreads across the surface of your eye.

This tear film helps keep the eye’s surface smooth and comfortable while contributing to clear vision. It also helps protect the eye from irritants and infection.

The tear film contains several components that work together. An oily outer layer helps slow evaporation, a watery layer provides moisture, and an inner mucus layer helps the tears spread across and remain on the eye’s surface.

When this system becomes unbalanced, symptoms of dry eye can develop.

What Causes Dry Eye?

Dry eye can develop for several different reasons. In some people, the eyes do not produce enough tears. In others, tears evaporate too quickly or do not maintain a healthy tear film.

  • Age: Dry eye becomes more common with increasing age.
  • Medications: Some medicines, including certain allergy, depression, blood pressure, and other medications, can contribute to dry eye.
  • Medical conditions: Diabetes, thyroid disorders, and some autoimmune diseases can be associated with dry eye.
  • Contact lenses: Contact lens wear can increase the likelihood of experiencing dry-eye symptoms.
  • Environmental conditions: Wind, smoke, dry air, and air conditioning can increase tear evaporation.
  • Prolonged screen use: People may blink less frequently while concentrating on a computer, tablet, or phone, which can contribute to symptoms.
  • Previous eye procedures: Some types of laser eye surgery can temporarily or persistently affect tear production.

Problems involving the meibomian glands, small glands in the eyelids that contribute the oily component of the tear film, can also play an important role in dry eye. When these glands do not function properly, tears may evaporate more quickly.

A couple embraces on a park bench surrounded by lush trees in a serene French garden.

Who Is More Likely to Develop Dry Eye?

Anyone can experience dry eye, but certain factors increase the likelihood.

These include:

  • Being older
  • Wearing contact lenses
  • Having certain autoimmune or systemic conditions
  • Taking medications that can affect tear production or the ocular surface
  • Spending significant time in dry, windy, smoky, or air-conditioned environments
  • Spending long periods looking at digital screens

Having one or more risk factors does not necessarily mean that someone will develop dry eye. Conversely, people without obvious risk factors can still experience symptoms.

A fashionable couple sporting trendy eyeglasses poses against a light background.
man in blue polo shirt carrying girl in white and pink floral dress

What Does Dry Eye Feel Like?

Dry eye symptoms can vary from person to person.

Common symptoms include:

  • A dry, gritty, or scratchy feeling
  • Burning or stinging
  • Redness
  • Sensitivity to light
  • Blurred or fluctuating vision
  • A sensation that something is in the eye
  • Eye discomfort or fatigue

Interestingly, some people with dry eye experience excessive watering rather than an obvious feeling of dryness. Irritation can cause the eyes to produce reflex tears, but these tears may not provide the same lasting protection as a healthy tear film.

Symptoms may also come and go. They can become more noticeable during prolonged screen use, in dry environments, or during activities that require prolonged visual concentration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Dry eye can sometimes cause blurry or fluctuating vision because the tear film forms part of the optical surface of the eye.

For many people, this blurring improves when they blink or when the eye surface becomes adequately lubricated. Persistent or significant vision changes, however, should not automatically be attributed to dry eye because other eye conditions can produce similar symptoms.

Mild dry eye may primarily cause discomfort, but more significant or persistent disease can affect the surface of the eye.

Severe untreated dry eye can sometimes damage the cornea, the clear outer layer at the front of the eye.

This is one reason persistent symptoms deserve an appropriate eye examination rather than simply being treated indefinitely with over-the-counter products.

Consider arranging an eye examination if dry, burning, gritty, red, or intermittently blurry eyes persist or begin interfering with everyday activities.

You should also seek professional evaluation if symptoms are recurring, becoming more noticeable, or not improving with measures that previously helped.

Do not assume that every episode of eye discomfort is dry eye. Redness, pain, light sensitivity, discharge, and vision changes can have several possible causes.

Seek Prompt Medical Attention for Significant Changes

Sudden or significant vision changes, severe eye pain, a serious eye injury, or other rapidly developing eye symptoms warrant prompt medical evaluation rather than assuming they are caused by dry eye.

It can be temporary in some circumstances, particularly when environmental or medication-related factors are involved. However, dry eye can also be an ongoing condition requiring long-term management.

Yes. Eye irritation can trigger reflex tearing, so someone with dry eye may experience excessive watering.

Extended screen use can contribute to symptoms because people often blink less frequently while concentrating on a screen. It is one potential contributor rather than the only cause of dry eye.

Age is one risk factor for dry eye, but dry eye is not simply an unavoidable consequence of aging. Other medical, environmental, medication-related, and eye-related factors can contribute.

Contact lens wear is associated with an increased likelihood of dry-eye symptoms. If symptoms persist, an eye-care professional can help determine whether contact lens use is contributing.

Severe dry eye can sometimes damage the cornea. Persistent symptoms should therefore be evaluated when they interfere with comfort, vision, or daily activities.

There is no single treatment that permanently eliminates every form of dry eye. Management depends on the underlying causes and may involve a combination of approaches.

Continue Learning

Dry Eye Diagnosis & Evaluation

Learn what happens during a dry-eye evaluation and how eye-care professionals determine what may be contributing to your symptoms.

Dry Eye Treatment & Long-Term Management

Learn about artificial tears, prescription treatments, lifestyle measures, procedures, and long-term management.

Medical Disclaimer

The information on this page is provided for general educational purposes and is not a substitute for a professional eye examination, diagnosis, or individualized medical advice. Cataract treatment and surgical decisions depend on each patient’s eye health, medical history, visual needs, and other individual factors. If you have sudden or significant changes in vision, severe eye pain, or other concerning symptoms, seek prompt medical attention.

A man and a woman hugging in a field

Ready to See the World More Clearly?

Schedule your comprehensive eye exam with Hillside Ophthalmology today and experience expert care tailored to your needs.

Book Appointment