Watery eyes, also known as epiphora, are a common condition that can range from a minor annoyance to a symptom that significantly impacts your daily life. While occasional tearing is a normal bodily function to keep your eyes lubricated and clear of irritants, persistently watery eyes can be a sign of an underlying issue. It’s important to understand why your eyes might be constantly watering and what you can do about it.
Common Causes of Watery Eyes
It’s perfectly normal for your eyes to produce tears in certain situations. Exposure to irritants like smoke, dust, or strong winds, as well as cold temperatures, can all trigger tear production as a protective mechanism. Similarly, if you get something in your eye, such as an eyelash or a speck of dirt, your eyes will water to flush it out. However, if your eyes are watering excessively without these obvious triggers, there might be other reasons.
Here are some common medical and environmental factors that can lead to chronic watery eyes:
-
Blocked Tear Ducts: Tears drain from your eyes through small tubes called tear ducts, which empty into your nose. If these ducts become blocked or narrowed, tears cannot drain properly and will overflow onto your face. This blockage can be due to infection, inflammation, injury, or even be present from birth.
-
Allergies and Infections: Allergic reactions to pollen, pet dander, dust mites, or mold can cause inflammation in the eyes, leading to increased tear production. Eye infections like conjunctivitis (pink eye), whether viral or bacterial, are also common culprits. These infections irritate the eye’s surface, triggering excessive tearing as the body tries to fight off the infection.
-
Eyelid Problems: The position and function of your eyelids play a crucial role in tear drainage. Conditions like ectropion, where the eyelid turns outward, or other eyelid malpositions can disrupt the natural flow of tears, causing them to spill over. General eyelid problems, such as inflammation or swelling, can also affect tear drainage.
-
Dry Eyes: Paradoxically, dry eyes are a frequent cause of watery eyes. When your eyes don’t produce enough quality tears to keep them properly lubricated, they can become irritated. In response, your eyes may overproduce watery tears as a reflex mechanism to compensate for the dryness. These reflex tears are often of poor quality and don’t effectively lubricate the eye, leading to a cycle of dryness and watering.
-
Bell’s Palsy: This condition, characterized by temporary weakness or paralysis of the facial muscles, can affect the eyelids’ ability to close properly. Incomplete eyelid closure can lead to dry eyes and, subsequently, reflex tearing.
-
Medications and Cancer Treatments: Certain medications, including some antihistamines, decongestants, and drugs for high blood pressure or anxiety, can have side effects that contribute to dry eyes and watery eyes. Cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation therapy can also sometimes cause dry eye syndrome, leading to increased tearing.
-
Infant Tear Duct Development: Newborns and young babies often experience watery eyes because their tear ducts are not yet fully developed. In most cases, this resolves on its own within the first few weeks or months of life as the tear ducts mature and open properly.
Seeking Help from a Pharmacist for Watery Eyes
If you are experiencing watery eyes, your local pharmacist can be a valuable first point of contact for advice and over-the-counter solutions. Pharmacists can provide guidance on:
-
Self-Care Measures: They can recommend simple home care strategies to manage your symptoms, such as gently cleaning your eyelids and eyelashes, using warm compresses, and avoiding irritants like smoke and dust. They can also advise on protecting your eyes from wind and cold weather.
-
Over-the-Counter Products: Pharmacists can suggest appropriate over-the-counter treatments to alleviate watery eyes. This might include artificial tears for dry eyes, lubricating eye drops or gels, or allergy medications like antihistamine eye drops or oral antihistamines if allergies are suspected to be the cause. They can also advise on cleaning solutions for the eyes and eyelids.
-
When to Seek Further Medical Advice: Crucially, a pharmacist can help you determine if your watery eyes require further medical evaluation by an optician (eye care specialist) or a general practitioner (GP). They can assess your symptoms and advise you if it’s necessary to seek professional medical attention to rule out underlying conditions or receive prescription treatments.
Find a local pharmacy for advice on watery eyes
When to Consult a Doctor for Persistently Watery Eyes
While pharmacist advice and self-care can be helpful for mild cases, it’s important to know when watery eyes warrant a visit to your doctor.
Non-Urgent Medical Advice: See a GP if:
-
Persistent Symptoms Affecting Daily Life: If your eyes are constantly watering and it is interfering with your everyday activities, such as reading, driving, or working, you should see a GP. Persistent tearing that disrupts your quality of life needs medical investigation.
-
Eyelid Abnormalities: If you notice that your eyelid is turning inwards (entropion) or drooping away from your eye (ectropion), it’s important to seek medical advice. These conditions can affect tear drainage and may require specific treatment.
-
Lumps or Swellings: If you develop any unexplained lumps or swellings around your eyes that do not improve with over-the-counter treatments recommended by a pharmacist, consult your GP. These could indicate an underlying issue that needs medical attention.
Urgent Medical Advice: Seek Immediate Help if:
-
Changes in Vision: Any sudden changes in your vision, such as blurred vision, double vision, or loss of vision, accompanied by watery eyes, require urgent medical attention. These symptoms could indicate a serious eye condition.
-
Severe Eye Pain: If you experience intense eye pain along with excessive tearing, seek immediate medical help. Severe eye pain can be a sign of a serious eye problem that needs prompt diagnosis and treatment.
For urgent medical advice, you can schedule an urgent GP appointment or seek help from NHS 111 by calling 111 or using the 111 online service.
Treatment Options for Watery Eyes
The treatment for watery eyes depends entirely on identifying and addressing the underlying cause. In many cases, if the watering is mild and not bothersome, treatment may not be necessary, and the condition may resolve on its own. However, if treatment is needed, it will be tailored to the specific cause.
Common treatment approaches include:
-
Eye Drops, Gels, Ointments, or Sprays for Dry Eyes: If dry eyes are the culprit, various lubricating eye drops, gels, ointments, or sprays can help to restore moisture and reduce reflex tearing. These treatments are designed to supplement your natural tears and keep your eyes comfortable.
-
Antibiotic Eye Drops for Eye Infections: If a bacterial eye infection is causing your watery eyes, antibiotic eye drops will be prescribed to clear the infection. Viral infections typically resolve on their own, but symptomatic relief can be provided.
-
Medications for Allergies: If allergies are the cause, antihistamine medications, either oral or in eye drop form, can help to reduce allergic inflammation and tear production. Avoiding allergens is also a key part of managing allergy-related watery eyes.
-
Foreign Body Removal: If a foreign object, such as grit or an eyelash, is trapped in your eye, it will need to be carefully removed by a healthcare professional.
-
Surgery for Eyelid or Tear Duct Problems: In cases of structural issues like blocked tear ducts or eyelid malpositions (ectropion, entropion), surgery may be necessary to correct the problem and restore proper tear drainage. Surgery for blocked tear ducts aims to create a new drainage pathway for tears, while eyelid surgery corrects the position of the eyelid.
If your GP is unable to determine the cause of your watery eyes, they may refer you to an eye specialist, known as an ophthalmologist. An ophthalmologist is a medical doctor specializing in eye care who can perform more specialized tests and provide advanced treatment options.
