In a poetic sense, many claim that the eyes are the windows to the soul. In a realistic sense, eyes are your windows to the world. Vision is so important that almost every species of animal life has evolved with the ability to see through their eyes. Barring exceptions like mole rats and bats, almost every other animal really needs its eyes to function well in the world. An unfortunate side effect of having eyes right at the forefront of our faces, however, is that they’re always susceptible to damage. Millions upon millions of people lose their sight every year, and so many more experience issues with their eyes. Whether it’s a minor issue or not, no one wants to have problems with their eyes. Thankfully, some of these issues, like having dry eyes, are typically perfectly treatable and you can get rid of those negative symptoms in a matter of days.

However, before you rush out and buy dry eye treatments, you may want to know some of what causes this issue in the first place. After all, if you’re not sure of the cause, then you’re liable to get the same symptoms again after initially applying the treatment. That can create a vicious cycle. Here are some of the common causes behind your eyes drying up on you.

 

Common Reasons Your Eyes Might Get Dry

Aging

Oh, Father Time! He’s undefeated, to be sure, and when he starts creeping up on us, we lose our ability to produce tears and overall moisture in our tear ducts. When we’re young, that dry winter air is no issue, though as we age, we start feeling that itching and burning sensation due to our eyes drying out. Generally speaking, the older you get, the fewer tears you’ll make, and this means drier and drier eyes. This will typically start at around 30 years old but shouldn’t really affect you until after 50.

Medication

Before you pick up any dry eye treatments, make sure that it won’t act poorly with any existing medication you may be on. Medication is the number-two reason why you might suffer from eyes that dry out. A wide range of blood pressure medications, heart medicines, and even pain medicines can wreak havoc on your body in relatively small ways that have big impacts, such as causing the moisture in your eyes to dry up.

TV/Computer Use

Are you staring at your smartphone screen constantly, on social media and always chatting? Perhaps you watch a lot of television. This can cause your eyes to dry up due to the overexposure of constant use. The good news is that this will fix itself, more than likely, after you unplug yourself from the lights and just rest and sleep a while. Though it’s also something that can be recurring, and for this you may need a good treatment and will certainly have to change those bad habits. Our eyes did not evolve to stare at these screens all day. Your body’s confused and overreacting.

Menopause

When women go through menopause, their hormones are shifting around and changing like crazy. It can bring on a whole laundry list of symptoms, some of them much worse than others. One of the most common symptoms is having your eyes get very dry on you. Dryness, redness, and even burning and itching are all associated often with menopausal women who are experiencing negative side effects from this huge life change. A quality treatment can definitely help with this issue.

Vitamin Deficiencies

There are two known vitamin deficiencies that can wreak havoc on your eyes: A and D. For vitamin D, you’re losing a whole lot of anti-inflammatory properties in your body that can occur naturally through synthesizing vitamin D, which could cause inflammation around the eyes and could dry them out. A vitamin A deficiency can do a lot of long-term harm to your vision, and cause impairment, which can also dry them out.

There are all sorts of reasons that your eyes could get very dry on you. Make sure you’re working to prevent what you can, and you can find a quality treatment to assist you with the rest.