Dry, scratchy eyes usually come down to a mix of how your tears are made, how fast they evaporate, and what’s going on in your body or environment.

Why Are My Eyes So Dry?

The Short Version

Dry eyes happen when:

  • You don’t make enough tears.
  • Your tears are poor quality (especially not enough oil).
  • Your tears evaporate too fast because of environment, screens, or eyelid issues.

Often it’s a combo of age, hormones, medications, screen time, contact lenses, or underlying health conditions.

What’s Actually Going On in Your Eyes?

Your tear film has three layers: an oily layer, a watery layer, and a mucus layer that keep the eye smooth and comfortable.

When any of these are off, you can feel:

  • Grittiness or sand-in-the-eye feeling.
  • Burning, stinging, or tired eyes.
  • Redness and light sensitivity.
  • Paradoxical watering (yes, very dry eyes can actually water a lot).

Two big medical patterns:

  • Evaporative dry eye : The oil glands in your eyelids (meibomian glands) don’t make enough oil, so tears evaporate too quickly.
  • Aqueous-deficient dry eye : You just don’t produce enough watery tears.

Common Reasons Your Eyes Feel So Dry

1. Lifestyle and Environment

  • Lots of screen time (phone, computer, gaming) → you blink less, tears evaporate faster.
  • Air conditioning, heating, fans, airplane cabins → very dry air.
  • Smoke, wind, and pollution → irritate and dry the surface.
  • Long days of driving, reading, or close work without breaks.

Think: “I stare, I forget to blink, my tears vanish.”

2. Age and Hormones

  • Tear production often decreases with age.
  • Hormonal shifts, especially in women (pregnancy, birth control, menopause), can change tear quantity and quality.

3. Medications That Quiet Your Tears

Some common meds can reduce tear production:

  • Antihistamines and decongestants (for allergies, colds).
  • Antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds.
  • Blood pressure medications and diuretics.
  • Birth control pills and hormone therapy.
  • Some acne and Parkinson’s medications.

If your dryness started after a new medication, this is worth flagging to your doctor (never stop meds on your own).

4. Contacts, Surgery, and Eyelids

  • Long-term contact lens wear can disturb the tear film and block oxygen, leading to chronic dryness.
  • LASIK and other refractive surgeries can temporarily reduce tear production.
  • Eyelid issues (lids turning outward or inward, incomplete blinking, not closing fully in sleep) mean tears don’t coat the eye properly and evaporate faster.

5. Medical Conditions in the Background

Certain health issues can strongly predispose you to dry eye:

  • Autoimmune conditions: Sjögren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, scleroderma.
  • Thyroid disease, diabetes, sarcoidosis, Graves’ disease.
  • Skin conditions like rosacea that affect oil glands in the eyelids.
  • Vitamin A deficiency (rare in high‑income countries but important globally).

If you have dry mouth, joint pain, fatigue, or other autoimmune symptoms plus very dry eyes, that’s an important clue for your doctor.

Quick Self-Check: When to Worry

You should get urgent or same-day eye care if you notice:

  • Sudden vision changes (blur, dark spots, halos).
  • Severe eye pain or a feeling something is stuck that doesn’t go away.
  • Marked redness in one eye, especially with light sensitivity.
  • Recent eye trauma, surgery, or chemical exposure.

You should book a non-urgent but definite eye exam if:

  • Your eyes feel dry, gritty, or tired almost every day.
  • Over-the-counter artificial tears only help for a short time.
  • You wear contacts and can’t tolerate them as long as before.
  • You have an autoimmune disease or take several of the meds listed above.

What You Can Do Right Now (Non-Medical Tips)

These are general comfort strategies and not a substitute for an exam, but they often help:

  1. Screen habits
    • Follow a “20–20–20” rule: every 20 minutes, look 20 feet away for 20 seconds and blink slowly 10 times.
    • Consciously blink more fully, especially when concentrating.
  2. Environment
    • Use a humidifier in dry rooms.
    • Avoid direct air blowing into your face from fans, car vents, AC/heat.
    • Wear wraparound glasses outdoors in wind.
  3. Warm compresses
    • Place a clean, warm (not hot) damp cloth over closed eyelids for 5–10 minutes once or twice daily.
    • This can help melt thick oil in meibomian glands and improve tear quality.
  1. Artificial tears
    • Use preservative-free lubricating drops (not “get the red out” drops) 3–4 times a day as needed.
 * For frequent use, preservative-free single-use vials are gentler.
  1. Contacts
    • Limit wear time; ensure proper lens fit.
    • Ask your eye doctor about switching to a more dry‑eye‑friendly lens or daily disposables.

Longer-Term Treatments an Eye Doctor Might Suggest

An eye care professional can tailor options based on what’s causing your dryness:

  • Prescription anti-inflammatory eye drops (e.g., cyclosporine, lifitegrast).
  • Short courses of steroid drops during flares.
  • Punctal plugs to slow drainage of tears.
  • In‑office treatments for meibomian gland dysfunction and eyelid hygiene.
  • Omega‑3 advice, allergy management, or adjusting systemic medications (in coordination with your regular doctor).

Dry eye is very common and usually manageable, but it can damage the eye surface if it’s severe and untreated.

Mini Forum-Style Take

“My eyes burn by afternoon, especially when I’m on the computer all day. Artificial tears help but only for like 10 minutes.”

  • This pattern screams “evaporative dry eye” plus screen‑related reduced blinking.
  • The person likely needs both lifestyle tweaks (blinking, breaks, humidifier) and a proper eye exam to check meibomian glands and rule out other causes.

SEO Mini-Notes

  • Focus keyword naturally woven in: why are my eyes so dry.
  • Related context: environment, medications, autoimmune disease, screen time, and meibomian gland dysfunction as leading explanations for dryness.

TL;DR

Your eyes are probably dry because your tears are either too few, too poor in oil, or evaporating too fast, often due to screens, age, hormones, medications, or underlying health issues. Simple steps like blinking breaks, artificial tears, warm compresses, and improving your environment can help, but you should get an eye exam—especially if symptoms are daily, painful, or affecting vision.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.