What Causes Dry Eyes and When Should You See a Doctor?

The drops are on your desk, in your bag, and on the nightstand. You’ve tried switching brands, hydrating more, and cutting back on screens, but your eyes still burn throughout the afternoon. Eventually, most patients stop wondering if something is temporarily off and start asking: what causes dry eyes, and can you fix mine? At Wink Family Eye Care, finding relief through our personalized dry eye treatment is almost always more achievable than patients expect. Below, we break down the common causes, the symptoms worth knowing, and when it’s time to visit one of our clinics for a definitive answer.

What Is Actually Happening When Your Eyes Feel Dry?

Your eyes are kept comfortable and clear by a specialized tear film—three distinct layers of oil, water, and mucus—that coats each eye’s surface with every blink. When your tear film is healthy and stable, your vision remains sharp, but when it thins or destabilizes—due to insufficient tear production, rapid evaporation, or both—it disrupts the surface, and is what causes dry eye symptoms like:

• Burning or stinging that builds up throughout the day.
• Persistent grittiness, as if there’s a speck of dust in your eye that blinking won’t clear.
• Overflowing/teary eyes from your nervous system flooding your eyes to remove surface irritation.
• Fluctuating blurriness that temporarily clears up after a firm, deliberate blink.
• Mid-afternoon eye fatigue, making your eyelids feel heavy and exhausted even on light screen days.
• Progressive contact lens discomfort that makes lenses feel dry or irritating before lunchtime.

What Are the Most Common Reasons for Dry Eyes?

For most, dry eye is rarely the result of a single, isolated cause. It tends to develop from a combination of daily habits, biology, and Minnesota’s distinct environment. When evaluating patients, our doctors primarily look for these dry eye reasons:

1. Screen Time and Reduced Blinking. If your eyes feel fine when you wake up but are dry and gritty by afternoon, screen time is likely the culprit. A study by Patel et al. (2021) found screen use drops our average blink rate from 18.4 times per minute to 3.6, causing incomplete blinks that prevent the tear film from fully refreshing. Identifying this desk-work trigger allows us to design targeted, proactive strategies that protect your tear film and maintain comfortable, clear vision throughout the workday.
2. Age and Hormonal Changes. Tear production declines with age, and hormonal shifts during perimenopause and menopause in one’s 40s and 50s can accelerate that change. If your eyes have felt noticeably drier without any other clear explanation, this may be a natural part of your dry eye picture.
3. Meibomian Gland Dysfunction. The meibomian glands line the edges of your eyelids and produce the oil layer that keeps tears from evaporating too quickly. When those glands become blocked or stop functioning properly, the tear film destabilizes. Artificial tears can offer temporary comfort, but they cannot correct the underlying issue.
4. Medications.Many common medications, including antihistamines, antidepressants, blood pressure prescriptions, and decongestants, can reduce tear production as a side effect. Isotretinoin (Accutane), commonly prescribed for acne, is also worth knowing about: it can affect the meibomian glands over time, gradually reducing the oil layer that keeps your tear film stable. If your symptoms started or worsened after starting a new prescription, that connection is worth exploring with us.
5. Contact Lens Wear.If your contacts feel fine in the morning but become uncomfortable as the day goes on, your tear film may be telling you something. Because contact lenses sit directly on the tear film, they can alter its stability over time, particularly with extended wear or lenses that no longer fit optimally. If this is you, specialty options like scleral lenses can restore comfortable, clear vision.
6. Our Seasonal Extremes. Anyone in the Twin Cities knows that our indoor spaces change just as dramatically as the weather outside. The dry, forced-air heat of a Minnesota winter creates a setup for tears to evaporate too quickly, while summer brings a steady stream of air conditioning and overnight ceiling fans. When our indoor environments shift drastically, the changing weather is often a major reason for dry eyes to flare up.
7. Systemic Health and Wellness. Issues like blepharitis can clog vital oil glands, while thyroid eye disease alters eyelid positioning and disrupts tear distribution. On a deeper level, autoimmune conditions like Sjögren’s syndrome can directly impact the glands responsible for natural tear production. When routine drops fail, evaluating these systemic factors is key to uncovering what’s causing your dry eyes.

“Dry eyes are rarely a mystery once you know what to look for. When we treat the source rather than the symptom, patients tell us they had no idea their eyes could feel this good and wonder why they waited so long.” — Dr. Sarah K. Ebeling, Founder and Co-Owner, Wink Family Eye Care.

When Should You See Our Doctors At Wink Family Eye Care for Dry Eyes?

If over-the-counter drops only provide a few minutes of comfort, or if afternoon burning and blurred vision regularly disrupt your workday, driving, or reading, it’s time for a professional dry eye evaluation. During an assessment, our doctors examine daily symptom patterns, declining artificial tear effectiveness, contact lens intolerance, vision clarity changes, symptoms tied to new medications, and your family’s medical history. From there, we identify the specific root cause driving your dry eye and build a customized treatment plan around it. Depending on what we find, that care may include:

• Meibomian Gland Therapy — in-office gland expression and warm compress protocols to restore healthy oil flow at the source.
• Eyelid Hygiene and Blepharitis Management — prescription treatments and targeted lid care to reduce inflammation, clear debris, and protect tear film stability.
• Prescription Eye Drops — Restasis, Xiidra, or Cequa reduce inflammation and support natural tear production rather than simply supplementing it.
• Punctal Plugs — small biocompatible devices placed in the tear ducts to slow drainage and keep moisture on the surface longer.
• Omega-3 Nutritional Support — improves tear film quality from the inside out.
• Scleral Contact Lenses — custom-fitted lenses that vault over the corneal surface entirely, designed for patients whose dry eye has made standard lens wear impossible or consistently painful.

Because dry eyes look different for every patient, so does the care. Explore every treatment option on our dry eye treatment page.

FAQs About Dry Eyes and Treatment

A dry eye diagnosis often opens the door to questions you didn’t even know you had. These are the ones we hear the most often at our Chanhassen and St. Louis Park clinics:

1. Is Dry Eye Permanent? For most patients, treating the root cause either resolves the issue or makes it manageable. Early detection protects the tear film, allowing us to use advanced dry eye treatments like in-office gland therapies to restore oil flow, targeted prescription drops, or specialty scleral lenses to balance comfort.
2. Does Insurance Cover Dry Eye Treatment? At Wink Family Eye Care, we accept a wide range of vision and medical insurance at our Chanhassen and St. Louis Park clinics, and our team is happy to walk you through your coverage before you schedule.
3. What to Bring to My First Dry Eye Appointment? Bring your current eye drops, any glasses or contacts you wear, your insurance card, and a list of current medications. The Wink Family Eye Care Exam is unlike most: no air puff, no routine dilation, and a team that takes the time to listen.

Discover What’s Causing Your Dry Eyes & Find Relief at Wink Family Eye Care

If dealing with an afternoon burn or constantly reaching for drops has quietly become your daily baseline, you deserve more than a temporary drugstore fix. Wink Family Eye Care looks beyond the surface to find out why your tear film is breaking down, mapping out a path to long-term comfort. Schedule your appointment today at our Chanhassen or St. Louis Park clinic, and discover what comfortable eyes feel like.