When you have dry eye, you might feel like there’s something in your eye that just won’t come out. This can feel like a scratchy, gritty or sandy sensation. Symptoms may also include:
- Burning or stinging.
- Feeling sensitive to light.
- Blurred or changed vision.
- Mucus that comes out of your eye.
- Watery eyes, with excess tears running down your cheeks.
The watery eyes symptom may seem confusing. But it’s a common aspect of dry eye. It happens when your meibomian glands aren’t making enough oils for the outer layer of your tear film. So, the middle, watery layer of your tear film evaporates too quickly. In response, your lacrimal glands try to make more watery tears to compensate. But these tears can’t properly coat your eye, as the oily layer would. So, they can’t solve the underlying problem.