Tears in the wind are a problem that many elderly people will encounter, especially when the weather is cold, when the cold wind blows, they will be teary-eyed, and they can't wipe it off. Although it does not affect normal life, it brings a lot of troubles to patients.
Tears in the elderly are partly caused by normal physiological protective mechanisms, and the other part is related to some eye diseases. Normally, our tears are secreted mainly by the lacrimal glands, which are located medially and above the lateral orbit. Some of these tears are evenly spread to the surface of the eye by the eyelids when we blink, and most of them are inhaled into the nasal cavity through the lacrimal duct (composed of puncta, lacrimal tubules, lacrimal sacs, nasolacrimal ducts, etc.) through the phenomenon of siphoning. Normally, the production and discharge of tears are balanced.
As we age, there are some changes in the eyes of older people. In the elderly, the function of the orbicularis oculi muscle and ciliary muscle decreases, the eyelids and conjunctiva relax, the siphoning effect of tears decreases, the amount of tears entering the nasal cavity decreases, and the amount of tears that overflow from the eyes naturally increases. This is one of the physiological factors.
Another physiological reason is that some people are more sensitive to cold stimuli, when the eyes are stimulated by cold air, the secretion of tears increases, and the stimulation of cold air will cause the lacrimal tubules and nasolacrimal ducts to contract, so that the narrow tear duct can not properly drain tears into the nasal cavity, and too much tears will overflow from the eyes. In fact, this phenomenon is a normal response of the body to cold stimuli.
Then there is the decline of meibomian gland function in some older people. The meibomian gland is a tissue at the lower edge of the eye that secretes meiblose that forms a lipid layer on the surface of the eyeball. The lipid layer prevents tears from evaporating on the surface of the eyeball, keeping the eye area moisturized and not dry. After the meibomian gland function declines, the lipid layer is insufficient, and the evaporation of tears on the surface of the eyeball is accelerated, so that some elderly people have dry and stinging eyes (dry eye syndrome), and when they go out and encounter cold wind or light to stimulate tears, they will become more stressful. In addition to the above factors, inflammation of the eye, congenital tear duct stenosis, and eye tumor compression can all cause "tears flow".
Therefore, if everything is normal at ordinary times, but there are slight tearing symptoms when encountering cold stimuli, there is no need to be nervous, this is a normal reaction of the body, just observe more. If you are in a warm environment or if you often "cry", you should go to the hospital to check for any diseases such as tear duct narrowing or eye inflammation. If windward lacrimation is ineffective, meibomian insufficiency is considered.
In terms of prevention and prevention, we should pay attention to maintaining eye hygiene, and wash and dry face towels frequently to reduce the risk of eye infectionTry to avoid staying in a cold environment for a long time, wear windproof glasses and a mask when going out in cold weather, and do a good job of keeping warm;Frequent eye compresses or massages can help promote local circulation and relieve dry eyes and windward tears. If there are diseases such as eye inflammation and tear duct stenosis, it is necessary to actively develop the primary disease.
The knowledge of this article refers to the clinician diagnosis and treatment series "Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Ophthalmic Diseases", edited by Du Shuhua, published by Science Press.
*: Henan Provincial Health Central Plains Service Guarantee Center.
Contributed by: Rong ** Department.
Editor in charge: Yang Hua.