Are your eyes afraid of the cold? Tears keep flowing when the wind blows in winter

Audit expert: Liu Dongbao

Chief Physician of Ophthalmology Department, Shenyang Red Cross Hospital

In Journey to the West, Sun Wukong was able to identify demons and monsters thanks to his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils that he had trained in Laozi's alchemy furnace. However, the process of training the Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils also made Sun Wukong's eyes "old and sick", leaving him with the old problem of "crying in the wind".

In daily life, some people will shed tears involuntarily when they go out and encounter strong winds. In winter, when the cold wind blows, the eyes can't help but "tear up" . What is the reason? And how to prevent it? Read on and let's find out together.

Source: Internet

How are tears formed?

To understand the reason for tears in the wind, we must first understand how tears are formed. The "tear glands" above the tear duct are where tears are continuously secreted. The amount of tears secreted by our body is very small. It is stored in the narrow gap between the eyelids and the eyeballs. We generally call it "tears". These tears will evenly cover the surface of the eyeball when the eyeball blinks, forming a tear film to protect the eyes.

Source: Internet

The eyeball is a very fragile organ in the human body, especially the surface of our eyeball, which has a strong ability to capture and respond to external information. Once stimulated by something in the outside world, the eyes will produce tears to protect the eyeball. The tears secreted at this time are called "reflex tears" and can protect the eyes. Therefore, when the degree of stimulation of the eyes is different, the amount of tears produced by the lacrimal glands is also different. When the amount of tears is small, it can be discharged through the lacrimal duct. When the amount is large, it will overflow and gather together to form tears.

Stimuli in daily life generally include wind, foreign body stimulation, gas stimulation, etc. The longer the eyeball is stimulated, the more tears will be produced. Tears in the wind are actually a protective mechanism for the eyes.

Why do I cry when I face the wind?

Tears come from the tear glands above the eyes. In our daily lives, the discharge and secretion of tears in the eye sockets are usually in a dynamic balance. When the tear glands produce too much tears and cannot flow out of the tear ducts, the tears inside the eyeball will increase and tears will appear.

In autumn and winter, when the human body is affected by cold air, the tears in the eyes will increase. If the tears cannot be discharged from the tear ducts in the eye sockets, "tears" will appear, commonly known as "tears in the wind". Therefore, "tears in the wind" is actually a self-protection mechanism of the human body.

So, what are the reasons that cause tears in the wind?

1. Aging of eye muscles

Age is the inevitable "killer" of tearing eyes, and it is currently a common cause of increased tearing in the elderly. The muscles inside the eyes will gradually atrophy with the increase of human age, so that tears cannot flow out through the tear ducts, which will also cause tears to flow out of the eyeballs.

Source: pexels

2. Eye diseases

Some common eye diseases can cause abnormalities in the tear glands of patients, especially in the elderly. Common eye diseases include dry eyes, trachoma, conjunctivitis, glaucoma, cataracts , etc. These eye diseases are mainly caused by the body being infected by foreign bacteria or chlamydia, and are closely related to the patient's physical fitness, immune ability, eye habits, etc. With the current intensification of environmental pollution and the increase in daily life and work pressure, the number of patients with eye diseases is also constantly getting younger, especially the incidence of patients with chronic conjunctivitis is increasing year by year.

In the contemporary environment, with the advancement of technology and the popularization of electronic devices, the time spent using electronic products now occupies the vast majority of the day for many young people, and the prevalence of dry eye among young people is also increasing day by day. According to the "Expert Consensus on Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment of Dry Eyes", dry eye currently has a very high incidence in China. Among people over 20 years old, almost one in three people suffer from dry eye. For people with dry eye, blowing wind enhances the rapid evaporation of tears, which will stimulate the epidermal cells of the eyes, thereby causing the rapid secretion and outflow of reflex tears.

Source: pexels

Some patients who use eye drops for a long time also need to pay attention. Most of the current eye drops contain chemical ingredients such as preservatives. The drug effects can cause long-term stimulation to the cells on the surface of the eye, causing the cells to become sensitive, leading to frequent tearing.

3. Tear gland dysfunction

Tears are produced by the tear glands in the human body, which are located inside the eyelids near the corners of the eyes. When the eyeball is strongly stimulated, the eye will blink continuously to control the nerves near the eye frame to slowly contract, allowing tears to enter the tear duct. If there are problems or lesions in the tear glands, when the eyes are stimulated, the tear secretion will increase, the tear duct will be blocked, and the eyeball will overflow.

Source: Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital

4. Dry eyes

Have you ever noticed in daily life that the eyes of children and the eyes of the elderly look different? Children's eyes look clear and clean, while the eyes of the elderly are cloudy and blurred. Although people's eyesight is related to experience, this phenomenon actually has its physiological structure reasons. In fact, it is because of the protective film on the surface of our eyeballs. This protective film acts as the "lubricant" of the eyes. With this "lubricant", the adhesion of tears on the surface of the eyeball will be more balanced. As the years pass by, the secretion of "lubricant" will gradually decrease, which will cause the distribution of tears on the surface of the eyeball to be disturbed. Some elderly people always feel uncomfortable in their eyes, and some parts are dry and uncomfortable. In fact, this is the reason.

Although eye health is closely related to age, it is also closely related to our protection of our eyes. Therefore, from now on, put down your mobile phone, open the window, go out, look at the towering trees and the green grass. May we all have a pair of healthy eyes.