Why do your eyes get dry when you sleep?

[TRiBaL]

I know one reason it could be the shape of your eyes so if your eyes are open when your sleeping at night but thats a rare case I'm sure. So many people get dry eyes on awakening in the morning. So why do your eyes do this? Is it because its not creating tears for your eyes when your asleep or because your tear film not strong enough to last the whole night?

I used Gel drops before I goto sleep and it seems not to work for me

[Rebecca Petris]

I know one reason it could be the shape of your eyes so if your eyes are open when your sleeping at night but thats a rare case I'm sure.

Quite the contrary. Lagophthalmos (incomplete lid closure) is very common and usually undiagnosed. It takes only a very small opening to dry out the eyes badly or cause erosions if you already have an underlying dry eye condition.

Lagophthalmos has many causes. For some people it is eye shape/size. But many people get lagophthalmos from cosmetic eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) or - I believe - from lids stretched by the speculum during a laser eye surgery. I think it's also associated with thyroid disease.

[TRiBaL]

Well I never had surgery or any that stuff. I'm only 21 and my vision is still ok, but my eyes look completely closed too and yet they get really dry when i wake up in morning. How do you find out if your eyes are not closing all the way? I can't tell by myself haha being that my eyes are closed duh..

[kitty]

A second reason is that our bodies naturally produce fewer tears when we sleep. For a person with DES, the sensation of this is significantly more pronounced. I use gel at night, it helps but does not entirely relieve the morning dryness. If I wake during the night, I will usually get up and put more gel in before going back to sleep.