Can dry eyes cause sinus problems?

[Noyes]

I heard that dry eye may cause sinus problem. Is it possible? How?

[Manassas city]

Yes, I think it is possible. It dosenot cause sinus problem directly, but it might make it a higher risk to get sinus problem. Tear plays a vital role in eyes, as lubrication, nourishment and anti-bacterial agent. With no enough tear film, you will have grittiness in eyes, which would scratch your eyes. There is no blood vessels on conjunctivia, tear provides nutritions to it. If no suficient tear, conjunctivia can't get enough nourishment to maintain healthy. Besides, tear kills over 90% bacteria in eyes. For lacking of anti-bacterial agent, eyes are more likely to get infected. So chronic eye dryness might lead to recurrent infection. During infection, these bacteria travel to sinus with tear and secretion, which puts sinus in danger. Actually there are many simple steps you can take at home to relieve dryness. 1. Drink enough water. (this is the easiest and cheapest way) 2. Use eye drops. You can make some saline water to moisturize your eyes which indeed works. 3. Apply warm compress and gentle massage. Good luck!

[Amos]

Well, yes, dry eye can just lead to sinus problems too. As we know that if you do not have the necessary balance of these three layers in your eyes, or if your eyes do not make enough tears to coat the eye, dry eye can occur. At that moment, it will just weaken your eyes in some degree. For the symptoms of dry eyes, discomfort, irritation, burning, grittiness, redness, tearing, and blurred vision can be possible. In some cases, sinus problem can be possible because of the irritation. And that can be annoying and dangerous for your eyes, so just take some measures when you get dry eyes. For example, you can just drink more water and have more vitamins.