What Are Tears?

One thing that eye doctors in Miami find their patients are curious about is their tears and how they are produced. Tear production is interesting because many people don’t know that there are multiple types of tears, and also don’t know that there are multiple things that cause tears to be produced. Those who ask their Miami eye doctor about their tears are usually interested in the ones that are brought on by emotions, but there are many other types to learn about as well. For example, there are tears that the eye produces which don’t ever leave the interior of the eye. These tears are for pressure regulation and internal functions of the eye, but they are tears nonetheless.

The Production of Tears

If you ask your Miami optometrist what causes tears to be produced, you may get asked what kind of tears you’re talking about. Here are the three things that cause tears to be produced in the human eye:

• Emotions. When people get sad, depressed, angry, or even happy, they can produce tears from their eyes. This response is usually involuntary, though people can invoke these type of tears or stop them if they focus.
• The internal muscles in the eye. The muscles inside the eye that control the release of fluid are also responsible for producing tears to balance the fluid.
• Irritants. When someone gets something in their eyes, they will naturally produce tears to try and flush the object out. Blinking and tearing are the body’s natural response to a foreign object in the eye.

Producing Too Little Tears

There are times when people produce too little tears for their eyes. This results in chronic dry eye that can cause a lot of problems for the person who’s experiencing it. Chronic dry eye can lead to frequent infections, chronic red eye, and many other things that can cause discomfort and pain. There are also people who produce more tears than normal. These people may need a simple treatment to fix their problems. For example, if someone is prescribed eyeglasses in Miami Beach, they may just need to wear them more often. The glass barrier can keep wind and debris out of the eyes, which are two known causes of why people produce too many tears.

photo credit: Dietmar Temps Madagascar, girls on the beach via photopin (license)