Watery Eyes: Causes, When to Get Medical Help and Treatment Options

Tears are composed of water, oil, and antibodies and originate from the tear gland of your eyes, also known as the lacrimal glands. These glands are located above the outer eye. Tears have many vital functions in your body, including helping to wash away foreign particles and dust and keeping your eyes lubricated.

Tears are naturally discharged through your tear ducts which then evaporate. When too much tears is produced it overwhelms your tear ducts, and you develop watery eyes., you develop watery eyes. Always remember that excessive tearing, if not due to normal crying, can indicate an underlying disease.

Causes of Watery Eyes

Most people produce excess tears temporarily when they are emotional, coughing, laughing, vomiting, sense strong tastes, or yawning.

Dry eye syndrome is one of the most common reasons for watery eyes. In other words, extremely dry eyes can trigger you to generate excess tears.

Other common causes for watery eyes are:

• Wind, cold, sunshine, or dusty weather
• Eyestrain
• Bright lights and smog
• Sinus problems, common cold, and allergies
• Injured eyes
• Blocked tear ducts
• Ingrown eyelash
• Infections such as pink eye (conjunctivitis)
• Eyelid inflammation
• Eyelid turned outward or inward
• Foreign objects, irritating gases, chemicals, or liquids entering the eye
• Certain prescription medicines
• Cancer treatments, like radiation, chemotherapy, etc

Symptoms of Watery Eyes

• Eye pain
• Allergies
• Eye inflammation
• Eye infection
• Runny nose
• Sneezing
• Vision impairment
• Swelling of the eyes
• Redness of the eyes

Treatment for Watery Eyes

Treatment for watery eyes entirely depends on the severity and cause of the problem. In mild cases, just monitoring the patient will be enough. Explained below are various reasons when watering eyes require medical attention and their specific treatment options.  

• Irritation: If infective conjunctivitis is causing your watery eyes,  your doctor might recommend waiting for about a week before prescribing medications to check if the issue resolves itself without requiring any antibiotics. However, if your symptoms persist, you may need to treat the infection with antibiotic eye drops. Other ways to treat watery eyes include treating the allergies that make your eye watery and placing a warm, wet towel on your eyes many times a day, which can help open blocked tear ducts.

• Trichiasis: This condition happens when you have an inward-growing eyelash, and your doctor would generally remove it. It can also be triggered by a foreign object lodged in your eye

• Presence of a foreign object in your eyes: You can get watery eyes also when some foreign object enters your eye. In such situations, the doctor will remove the foreign object as the treatment.

• Ectropion: In this condition, the eyelid turns outwards, and the patient might need surgery to tighten the tendon that keeps the outer eyelid in place.

• Blocked tear ducts: In this case, the treatment depends on the extent to which the tear ducts are blocked. If they are completely blocked, the patient may require surgery to allow the tears to bypass the blocked tear duct section. If the drainage channels are only narrowed and not fully blocked, your doctor may use a probe to make them wider.

See Also: Blocked Tear Duct in Babies: Symptoms and Treatment

When to Get Medical Help

Usually, watery eyes are a temporary problem and resolve on their own once the cause is found out and treated appropriately. However, if your eye turns swollen or red, or you have been experiencing excessive tears for more than a few days, you should fix an appointment with your eye doctor to check if an underlying disease is causing the condition.

If you are looking for "eye hospital in Kolkata" or " best eye care hospital near me" for your watering eyes treatment, the professionals at Netralayam can help you. For the best treatment for excessive tearing and any other eye problems you are facing, please give us a call to schedule an appointment today!