Dry eyes occur when your tear glands do not produce enough lubrication. Dry eyes result in pain every time you close your eyes and cause a tingling and irritating feeling. What causes dry eyes? There are several reasons for dryness in the eyes, and the common ones are mentioned below.

1. Aging
One of the most common causes of dry eyes is aging. As people age, the production of tears in the tear glands reduces, increasing the chance of developing dry eyes.

2. Vitamin-A deficiency
Vitamin A is one of the essential nutrients needed for the well-being of your eyes. One of the common answers to the question of what causes dry eyes could be a vitamin-A deficiency. Make sure you include yellow, red, and green peppers, mangoes, papayas, apricots, sweet potatoes, spinach, carrots, cheese, and yogurt in your diet to up your vitamin A intake.

3. Consumption of certain medications
Most times, dry eyes could be a result of consuming antihistamine, diuretics, and antidepressant medications. All these can cause a temporary problem with tear formation in the eyes and lead to dryness.

4. Menopause
For some women, the answer to what causes dry eyes could be menopause. Menopause brings with itself hormonal changes, and this can lead to lesser tear production in the eyes. Consult your gynecologist if this is a problem for you.

5. Excess exposure to the wind
Traveling at high speeds in motorbikes without protective glasses or driving with the roof open can both lead to temporary dryness in the eyes. When the eyes are exposed to the wind at high speed, tears get dry, causing resultant dryness.

6. Autoimmune conditions
Autoimmune conditions are those where your immune system attacks your body’s cells, imagining them to be foreign sources. You can get rid of dry eyes by treating the autoimmune disease that caused them. Sjogren’s syndrome is a common autoimmune condition that leads to the immune cells attacking the tear glands. As a result, the tear glands are unable to produce as much tears as required.

7. Overexposure to bright screens
In recent times, the answer to what causes dry eyes is overexposure to bright screens. When you constantly stare at your laptop, tablet, or mobile phone, you forget to blink as much as you should. This leads to irritation in the eyes. Overexposure to bright screens also reduces the production of tears in the tear glands.

8. Laser surgery
Laser surgery in the eyes done to correct eye power, can sometimes lead to a temporary phase of eye dryness. This gets better with eye drops and rest.

If you have been wondering what causes dry eyes most times for you, it could be any of these above reasons. Talk to your doctor to understand the exact cause.