Who gets watering eyes?
Watering eyes (tears rolling onto your cheeks) can occur at any age, but is most common in young babies and in people over the age of 60. It can occur in one or both eyes. Understanding normal tears Just above, and to the outer side, of each eye is a small gland called the lacrimal gland. This constantly makes a small amount of tears. When you blink the eyelid spreads the tears over the front of the eye to keep it moist. The tears then drain down small channels (canaliculi) on the inner side of the eye into a tear ‘sac’. From here they flow down a channel called the tear duct (also called the naso-lacrimal duct) into the nose. What are the possible causes of watering eyes? Making too many tears • Emotion can make you cry. • Anything that irritates the eye can cause you to make a lot of tears. The watering is a protective reflex to help clear irritants away from the eye. For example: • Chemical irritants such as onions, fumes, etc. • Infection of the front of the eye (infective conjunct
