Can Dry Eyes Cause Headaches? Understanding the Connection

If you have chronically dry eyes, you may wonder if headaches are a side effect of the dryness or a separate issue. Can dry eyes cause headaches? The answer is both yes and maybe. Headaches and dry eyes often occur together, and this article will help you determine if they are indeed tied together or things to manage independently. Knowing the difference will help you seek the appropriate care and help you find faster relief for this troublesome problem.

The Link Between Eye Dryness and Headaches

The association between dry eyes and headaches primarily revolves around eye strain. When your eyes are dry, they can become irritated and inflamed. This often leads to squinting and straining as your eyes seek to compensate for the discomfort and blurred vision, which can, in turn, lead to several types of headaches.

Do Dry Eyes Cause Headaches?

In short, dry eyes can contribute to existing headache conditions or can outright cause them. If you’re prone to migraine, tension, or sinus headaches, dry eyes can make them worse or, in some cases, trigger an attack outright. Environmental factors, screen use, autonomic function, hydration, and medications can all affect eye moisture and thus contribute to headache frequency.

-Environmental Factors

In environments with low humidity, the dry air causes tears to dry faster, leading to irritation and itchiness. Windy conditions can have the same effect as airflow, speeding up eye fluids’ evaporation. Smoke has a similar impact but can also directly irritate the eye due to particle matter and debris.

On the other hand, allergens like pollen, ragweed, and cottonwood can cause an allergic response. Itching, redness, and excessive watering are common symptoms of allergic responses. Pet dander, food intolerance, and toxins like mold can also elicit a similar response. The ongoing eye irritation will cause dryness and associated symptoms if left untreated.

– Screen Use

Prolonged use of screens (computers, tablets, phones) can cause dry eyes through several mechanisms. During prolonged work, the blink rate decreases, which naturally produces less lubricant for the eyes. This leads to irritation, dryness, and eye strain.

When the eyes are exposed to movements they don’t tolerate well, issues can also arise. For example, it’s common in people with ongoing migraine attacks or post-concussion unresolved problems to be intolerant of screen time due to these eye movement deficiencies. Following smoothly, jumping from one thing to another, and optokinetic reflexes (when the eyes bounce from one thing to the next, like looking out of a window in a car) are examples of eye movements people commonly struggle with on a computer. They ask the eyes to perform these when they can’t produce a series of small stress responses, leading to eye strain, headache, autonomic problems, and nausea.

– Age

Dry eyes are more prevalent in older adults, especially women experiencing menopause. Changes in hormone production lead to a decrease in tear production. Additionally, certain medications commonly prescribed during menopause can worsen eye dryness.

-Medications

Certain medications, such as antihistamines, decongestants, and some blood pressure drugs, can reduce tear production.
AntihistaminesAntihistamines block the allergic response, which involves the eyes making tears to trap foreign debris and allergens. Blocking this response can reduce tear production and the symptoms associated with dry eyes.

Decongestant medications work by constricting the blood vessels in the sinuses. The effect is not strictly local to the sinuses and often involves vasoconstriction in the vessels of the eyes. Less blood flow can lead to less tear production and contribute to eye dryness.

Certain medications can also contribute to dry eyes. Beta-blockers, commonly used to treat high blood pressure, are tied to eye dryness because they interfere with the protein production required to make tears.

Diuretics affect the body’s sodium and water balance and are commonly used to treat blood pressure issues. When the body has less sodium and water, there is less available for tear production, leading to dryness and irritation.

Autonomic Function

Autonomic function is another common source of eye dryness, especially in people with ongoing migraine and post-concussion issues. The autonomic function is the balance of “fight or flight” vs. “rest and digest” responses in the body. Each side of the brain controls one side of the autonomic system, meaning one side of the body can have higher blood pressure than the other. This is a joint presentation in both migraine and concussion and points to a one-sided deficit in autonomic control. We commonly test blood pressure bilaterally and simultaneously to assess for asymmetries in autonomic control. By understanding what areas control the autonomic function and how to stimulate them, these issues are treatable with the help of a well-trained functional neurologist.

Symptoms Linking Dry Eyes to Headaches

The symptoms of dry eyes can often precede or accompany headache episodes, particularly tension headaches. Key symptoms include

– Eye Strain: An inability to focus or move the eyes can cause irritation, headache, and fatigue. Eye strain is commonly tied to tension headaches and migraine attacks. Pain will often settle between the eyes at the bridge of the nose, above the eyes, or in the temples.

– Sensitivity to Light: Increased light sensitivity due to dry eyes can contribute to headaches. It can also signal deficits in autonomic control, as this system controls the size of the pupils and how much light can get in.

– Blinking and Squinting: Frequent blinking and squinting to focus and lubricate the eyes can lead to headaches and strain.
Difficulty Concentrating: Painful and dry eyes often make it difficult to concentrate on tasks that require a lot of eye movement.

Managing and Treating Dry Eyes to Reduce Headaches

To alleviate the symptoms of dry eyes and potentially reduce related headaches, consider the following tips:

1. Stay Hydrated: Drinking enough water is an easy way to ensure your body has enough fluid to make its tears. Make sure to include electrolytes, as natural tears contain sodium.

2. Modify Your Environment: If you live in a naturally dry environment, including a humidifier can help prevent dry eyes. Avoid direct airflow around your face and wear eye protection if you work in an area with a lot of airflow.

3. Take Screen Breaks: When using digital devices, follow the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. Divergence exercises can help with this as well. We do a therapy called far-further-furthest. Focusing your eyes on progressively further objects can help them relax and reduce eye strain associated with screen time.

4. Use Artificial Tears: Over-the-counter lubricating eye drops can immediately relieve dry eyes. While this is not a long-term strategy, it can help prevent the onset of a more intense headache, such as a migraine or tension headache.

5. Optimize Your Workstation: Ensure your workstation doesn’t put excess strain on the eyes or neck. Ideally, the head is neutral, the pelvis is not tilted forward, and the eyes are straight ahead. This will minimize eye strain during work and prevent poor posture from provoking headaches.

6. Autonomic Function: Prolonged stress can affect eye dryness because it blunts the parasympathetic response. The parasympathetic (rest and digest) system largely controls tear production. Deficits in its baseline functioning will accelerate eye dryness. Ensuring your autonomic system is functional and symmetrical can help the body’s natural tear production throughout the day.

Conclusion

While dry eyes can exacerbate existing headache conditions, they can also cause headaches on their own. They thus should be managed as proactively as possible. Conditions like tension headaches, migraines, and sinus headaches can all be caused by dry eyes, and there are a variety of different options to manage eye dryness over time. Start conservatively, and if the issues persist, seek out a specialist who can help identify the underlying cause of the dryness.

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*Note: The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute a doctor-patient relationship. Patients are advised to consult their medical provider or primary care physician before trying any remedies or therapies at home.