eye tears with warm weather

[Hopeful2]

I am noticing more and more that my eyes seem to tear in certain situations. I was wondering if anyone else noticed similar tearing, and if this tearing is 'healthy' tearing or reflex tearing?

I notice that when I am eating and drinking my eyes feel more moist. Recently, I have noticed that when I am in the car and the sun heats my face, I get a rush of moisture and my eyes feel wet. It feels a lot like I have just done a warm compress and the oil is flowing well. Sometimes just squinting my eyes, brings on moisture as well. I am thrilled with this added moisture; I just want to be sure that it is good quality tears.

I had read an older post where someone mentioned that in the early stages of dry eye there can be a lot of over tearing and that these tears have a high osmolarity and are not healthy. I am not sure if this is what I am experiencing, or if it is just a normal response to certain stimuli. I guess I have had dry eyes for so long that I'm just not sure what 'normal' is supposed to feel like!

Thanks everyone!

[AprilShowers]

All tearing must be good because it indicates the glands are healthy. To improve the quality of the tears you must improve the quality of your diet. Please try the following suggestions: Purchase a number of tinned sardines or herring and eat 2 small tins of fish per week, always eat at least 3 - 4 ounces of meat a day, and buy two lots of vitamins, Folic Acid and Zinc. With zinc the RDA [the recommended daily dose will say] take one tablet daily, ignore this and take two. Zinc not toxic nor got a safe limit. When you squint or blink you're squeezing the tear glands and pressure-forcing tears to the optic surface. Getting back to eating fish in England very few do, our local supermarkets have sardines and tuna for cents, meaning 2 cans a dollar which is a shame for the catchers and packers, so it's probably the same in the USA and Canada. You need a warm compress routine on at least two consecutive days once a month. Normal means exactly that, no pain, no excessive blinking, no fear of the sun, and no early morning dryness. I look upon my eyes as flowers that need manure, shade and water, my own biggest mistake was shunning the wearing of sun-glasses and ignoring the eye-damage danger from the sun in places like Florida. I now keep a collection of golfers sun visors in the house, and my car windscreen is baffled. To sum up your seeking a marginal improvement in your life and health not a miracle. Best regards.

[spmcc]

With zinc the RDA [the recommended daily dose will say] take one tablet daily, ignore this and take two. Zinc not toxic nor got a safe limit.

I believe that zinc is contraindicated if you have an overactive immune system (e.g., autoimmune disease) or any possible neurological disease (altho you may not even know you have it).

I remember hearing stories about people's autoimmune diseases kicking in and being linked to zinc in denture cream.

Please tell your doctor before you start taking zinc (esp. a double dose!).

Here are a couple pubmed abstracts:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19732792 (2009)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18525032 (2008)

[spmcc]

I am noticing more and more that my eyes seem to tear in certain situations. I was wondering if anyone else noticed similar tearing, and if this tearing is 'healthy' tearing or reflex tearing?

My eyes always start to improve when the temperature rises in the spring (O happy day!).

I believe that it's because warm air holds more moisture. This moisture doesn't mean rain, but just relative humidity (vapor). I have a hygrometer and I check the relative humidity every day. In the summer when we have little/no rain, the number is up at 60-70%. In the winter when it's very rainy, it can be below 30%.

I have all four puncta sealed and I like to feel that moisture on my eyes. It doesn't feel "toxic" to me. How do your eyes feel with this extra tearing? Perhaps the tearing is a sign that you're healing?

[bakunin]

Months ago, in the worst times of my DES, i liked to get sun in my face. It gave me relief. I think it had something to do with the abnormal cold i felt that time.

Since my DES started last spring, i still don't know how it will be in the winter. But hot or cold days are not making difference to my eyes nowadays. The humidity makes a lot of difference. I moved five days ago to a dry city (i lived on the coast, very near the sea), and i feel like i'm in AC all the time. If i wasn't getting better with ayurvedic medicines life would be hell here where i'm living now.

[Hopeful2]

When I am in the car and the warmth of the sun hits my face, I get almost a rush of tearing. The tears feel great!!! There is no 'toxic' sensation, no little bits of what feels like salt deposits afterwards in the corners of my eyes. The eyes feel somewhat drier after about ten minutes. Then I just blink a bit and they tear up again. Interestingly I get a good dose of post nasal drip when this happens. I recall before surgery that I would often notice a post nasal drip. I guess my eyes were tearing and that stimulated the nasal passages. . . I never noticed my eyes feeling super moist. I wonder if there is a lack of goblet cells to hold the tears on my eyes?

The humidity is nice too. . . But it is the heat that causes a dramatic amount of tearing, almost like a mini warm compress.

I sure hope the tearing is a sign of healing!! I forget what 'normal' used to feel like.

[spmcc]

When I am in the car and the warmth of the sun hits my face, I get almost a rush of tearing. The tears feel great!!!

I'm just wondering if one of those lamps (light boxes) used for SAD/depression could bring this tearing on too? That type of device could be useful for our eyes in the winter when we get less sunlight. Maybe someone has tried this already?

[Hopeful2]

I work with a halogen desk lamp by my side. I noticed many times that when my face was close to the lamp, I would get a little bit of tearing. The effect in the warm car, is much more striking. I just worry that when it gets really warm I may by tearing all the time. . . could the meibomian glands keep up?? Do the glands just keep making more oil?

I think trying out a light box is a great idea!!

[izzyb]

I have noticed that it feels so good when I get into my car at the end of the workday during the hot months. The cold temp from the a/c at work feels like it freezes my eyeballs and it hurts. It is a relief to get into my hot car. I have also noticed that when I cry it brings relief to my eyes too. Not a full blown crying session, but just tearing up over something. I have depression so I tear up easily. Now I welcome it when that happens.

[kanon]

Bakunin, What are the ayurvedic medicines that are helping you? And how do I go about finding a doctor that knows about them? (I'm in the Netherlands, so you probably don't know how to answer that!) Thanks, Ashley

[Súil Eile]

All tearing must be good because it indicates the glands are healthy.

Not necessarily with me. I sometimes have reaction tearing (ie something irritates my eyes and causes them to tear). The trauma of this tearing causes my eyes to become more inflammed and dry.

I have the opposite reaction to getting into a warm car - it's like holding a hair dryer up to my eyes. We've had gorgeous summer weather here the last few days but I haven't been able to drive anywhere!

Can't agree more about the fish though. I notice a significant difference when I increase my intake of oily fish.