Epiphora is when your eyes water all of the time. Many patients say it looks like they are constantly crying. This absolutely has a psychological component. It makes people self conscious in public, at work, and especially if they are in a role of leadership. One cause of epiphora is punctal stenosis. That is when your tear drain holes (technical term) are clogged. A quick in office test called the Jones test tells us if that is your problem.
If your Jones test is normal, the most likely next issue is dry eye. It seems very counterintuitive to have watery, yet dry eyes. This is because a.) your eyes are dry b.) they send a signal to your brain to make more tears c.) you make more tears, but they aren’t the right quality d.) they fall right off of your eye and onto your cheeks. This cycle can actually make your skin around your eyes very broken and irritated as well.
If your epiphora is from dry eye, it is from an oil deficiency dry eye. If we can get the oil working again, it acts like car wax. It helps form an outer “cap” to your tears and hold them where they are supposed to stay! Let us help today!
