When a patient has dry eyes, their front ocular surface becomes unstable. Either the quality of their tears or the quantity of their tears make their eyes insufficiently lubricated. This can cause a variety of symptoms. The symptoms include burning and stinging sensations in your eyes, irritation, foreign body sensations, watery and teary eyes, a gritty feeling, blurry vision, and focus that goes in and out of focus. In some cases dry eye may also lead to headaches.

Different theories about the connection between dry eye and headaches

When it comes to whether headaches are also a symptom of dry eyes, there are several different theories. When you have dry eyes, it affects your vision and you have to constantly blink to try to focus your eyes and keep the object of your focus clear. This may result in increased eye strain that may in turn cause headaches.

Other theories suggest that since dry eyes have an inflammatory component and headaches also have an inflammatory component, it makes sense that dry eyes may contribute to headaches.

However, headaches are often the result of other eye conditions. Which is why it is important to understand that while there may be a connection between the two, it is important to have your eyes checked by an optometrist in order to fully understand the cause of your headaches.

For example, dry eye and headaches can also both be side effects of medications, and some medicines, like isotretinoin (a popular acne medication), can cause both conditions.