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Dry eye, also known as “dry eye disease,” is a common condition that affects nearly 38 million Americans. It occurs when your tear system is damaged and you can't produce enough tears, or you can’t keep your tears.

Evaporative dry eye may begin as an occasional problem, or even a seasonal issue. But over time, it’s common for additional symptoms to develop, or existing symptoms may worsen and become more persistent.

For about 9 out of 10 people with dry eye, a leading cause is tear evaporation. That means even if your eyes are making enough tears, your tears aren't staying where they should be.

Another less common type of dry eye is called “aqueous deficient dry eye." This means you don’t produce enough tears. However, it's often not the only cause of dry eye symptoms. In some cases, dry eye can be caused by a combination of both.

Too much tear evaporation is a leading cause of dry eye and is as simple as it sounds. Tears stop the surface of the eye from drying out. Tears can dry up and disappear into the air the same way water and other liquids do.

Healthy eyes have a natural protective outer layer that holds in the watery component of the tear film.

But for about 9 out of 10 people with dry eye, the outermost layer of the tear film is deficient, allowing tears to escape into the air through evaporation.

As soon as you add more tears, your eyes start to lose them again. It's a lot like pouring more water into a leaky bucket without patching it up first.

Blinking less often

• This can happen when concentrating on activities like reading, driving, or looking at a screen

Medications

• Certain medicines, including antihistamines, decongestants, acne medication, and antidepressants, can lead to evaporation

Aging

• Dry eyes are a part of the natural aging process. The majority of people over age 65 experience some symptoms of dry eye, many of which can be attributed to tear evaporation

The environment

• Wind, smoke, or dry air from the environment, as well as air conditioners, can speed up evaporation

Your eyes have a system of glands, which produce your tears.

Healthy eyes have a natural protective outer layer that holds in the watery component of the tear film.

When the tear system doesn’t function properly and can't help form the tear film correctly, too many of your tears evaporate, leading to the signs and symptoms of dry eye.

Proactively talk to your doctor about tear evaporation to learn more about available treatments for dry eye. You can take this quiz to help get the conversation started.

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Tear evaporation is a leading cause of dry eye, but not all treatments target this underlying issue.

Even if you keep adding more tears, you aren't addressing the actual reason for your symptoms.

It's a lot like pouring more water into a leaky bucket without patching it up first.