It might sound strange, but watery eyes can actually be a sign of dryness. When your eyes feel dry or irritated, they sometimes produce extra tears as a reflex. These tears are mostly water and don’t have the right balance of oils and mucus, so they don’t stay on the eye’s surface or provide proper moisture. Instead, they run down your cheeks, leaving your eyes feeling dry again

Dry eyes often look red or bloodshot because the surface of the eye becomes irritated and inflamed when it’s not properly lubricated. This redness can get worse in windy, smoky, or air-conditioned environments. If your eyes are frequently red and uncomfortable, it may be more than just tiredness, it could be dry eye.

If it feels like there’s sand or grit in your eyes, even when nothing is there, that’s a classic sign of dry eye. This happens because your tear film isn’t working properly, leaving dry spots on the eye’s surface. The result is a scratchy, uncomfortable sensation that blinking or rinsing rarely fixes.

A burning or stinging feeling in the eyes is another common symptom. It occurs when the eye surface dries out and becomes irritated. This discomfort often worsens in dry environments, after long hours on screens, or in windy conditions.

Dry eye can make your vision fluctuate or blur, especially when reading or using a computer. This happens because a healthy tear film is essential for clear vision. When tears are unstable or insufficient, the eye’s surface becomes uneven, causing light to scatter and vision to blur. Blinking often clears it temporarily.