Watery eyes.

Alright, I admit I have been posting quite a bit of health related issues lately so I wanted to get back to an eye related topic.  This post would have been more appropriate for wintertime, but with the cold weather we have been experiencing it still applies. 

 

A common complaint I receive is watery eyes.  Watery eyes can be the result of many things so an investigative discussion with the patient is necessary to determine the cause of watery eyes. Depending on the reason for the watery eyes will dictate what treatment plan I will use to alleviate the symptoms.   If the symptoms of watery eyes are exclusively experienced when the individual is in a cold environment, then this excessive tearing can be completely normal.

 

Let's first talk about the skin when it is exposed to really cold temperatures.  The muscles under the skin can move rapidly to cause a shiver that generates enough heat to increase the surface temperature of the skin.  This is a great reactive mechanism by the body in attempt to stay warm and to protect the skin from the damaging cold temperature. 

 

The problem with the eye is that it is not made of muscle, so to keep warm the glands around the eye produce warm tears to keep the cold from damaging the eye.  So the next time you are outside in the middle of winter and your eyes are tearing up, know that your body is just trying to solve a problem.  Without those extra tears to keep your eyes warm and protected, the surface of the eye could easily become damaged in too low of a temperature environment.