Your eyes need tears to moisturize them and wash away debris that has entered your eyes. Healthy tears are necessary for good eyesight. Dry eyes happen when the eyes cannot produce healthy tears.

Tears consist of the oily, watery, and mucin layers. The oily layer is the outer layer that keeps tears from vaporizing too quickly. The water layer sits in the middle. It works to lubricate the eyes, wash away rubbles, and stop infections. The mucin layer contains mucus to enable the water layer to spread uniformly across the eye's surface.

All three layers form the tear film and work together to keep the eyes moist and nourished. Dry eye is a condition that affects healthy tear production and results from a flawed tear film.

What Causes Your Eyes Not to Produce Healthy Tears?

The common causes of dry eyes include:

Reduced Tear Production

Dry eyes can happen when your eyes cannot produce enough water, leading to a condition called keratoconjunctivitis sicca. Your eyes may not be able to produce enough water due to aging and health conditions like Sjogren's syndrome, thyroid disease, rheumatoid arthritis, allergic eye disease, vitamin A deficiency, and others.

Certain medications, such as decongestants, antihistamines, antidepressants, hormone replacement therapy, and medicines for birth control, hypertension, acne, and Parkinson's disease, can affect tear production.

Also, desensitized corneas can decrease tear production. They interrupt blinking, making it difficult for your eyelids to spread tears uniformly over your eyes. Corneal nerve damage and wearing contact lenses can desensitize the cornea. LASIK eye surgery can also desensitize corneas, but only temporarily.

Fast Evaporation of Tears

Tears can evaporate too quickly if the oily layer of tears becomes congested. Congested oil glands are more common in patients with skin disorders like rosacea.

Other causes include:

• Eye allergies.
• Meibomian gland dysfunction (posterior blepharitis).
• Eyelid issues, like the lid rotating inward (entropion) or outward (ectropion).
• Blinking less frequently. That happens with health problems like Parkinson's disease or when using a computer, driving, or reading.
• Dry air, smoke, or wind.
• Additives in topical eye drops.
• Lack of vitamin A in the body.

What Puts You at Risk for Dry Eyes?

Various factors make you more prone to dry eyes. These include:

• Being above the age of 50. You tend to produce fewer tears as you age. Thus, people above 50 years old are more likely to experience dry eyes than younger people.
• Using contact lenses or undergoing LASIK eye surgery.
• Eating foods that are low in vitamin A. You can find vitamin A in broccoli, carrots, or liver.
• Having a diet that lacks omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish, walnuts, flax, and chia seeds.
• Being female. Dry eyes are more common in women than in men. That is due to hormonal changes when using birth control medications and during pregnancy or menopause.

Complications

People with dry eyes may get eye infections. Tears help protect the eyes from getting infections. Without enough tears, you may be more at risk of developing eye infections. Severe dry eyes can cause swelling, corneal abrasions or ulcers, and vision loss if not treated. The disease can also make it difficult to do daily tasks like reading or driving.

For more on the causes of dry eyes, visit Vision One Eyecare Center at our Fort Mitchell or Dry Ridge, Kentucky office. Call (859) 267-1700 or (859) 407-7400 to schedule an appointment today.