Breaking the Dry Eye Cycle: Why Your Eyes Stay Dry and What You Can Do

By mid-afternoon, the words on your screen start to blur. You blink harder, squeeze in a few drops, and keep going. For a moment, things clear, then the sting creeps back.

It’s inconvenient, it’s frustrating, and it slows your focus. By evening, your eyes feel as tired as the rest of you.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Millions of people experience the same daily loop of relief, relapse, and repeat. It’s not that drops don’t help, but the real problem isn’t on the surface. It’s the cycle beneath it.

The Dry Eye Cycle: What’s Really Going On

Dry eyes don’t happen because your body simply “runs out” of tears. They happen because the entire system that keeps your eyes hydrated starts working out of sync.

It often begins quietly. You blink less when you’re concentrating, the surface starts to dry, and the eyes try to defend themselves. That defence triggers inflammation, the glands get tired, and over time each part of the system starts to affect the next.

What was once a short bout of dryness becomes a repeating loop — a self-perpetuating cycle that keeps irritation alive even after the original cause has passed.

Everyday habits make this cycle harder to break. Long hours on screens, air-conditioning, makeup residue, alcohol intake, and late nights all play a part. And for many people, hormonal factors add another layer. Fluctuations in oestrogen during menopause can reduce tear production and change oil quality, making the tear film less stable.

Here’s how that cycle unfolds, step by step.

Step 1. Hyperosmolarity 

Every healthy tear has a precise mix of water, oil, and mucin.

When we blink less, such as during long hours on screens or in dry environments, the watery component of the tears evaporates too quickly. The remaining tears that's left behind become excessively concentrated (hyperosmolar). This is often cited as the hallmark of the disease.

When the tears become hyperosmolar, they turn saltier and begin to irritate the ocular surface.

That irritation is what starts the chain reaction.

Step 2. Inflammation 

The irritation from salty tears causes oxidative stress, and as a result, the surface of the eye sends distress signals to protect itself, triggering inflammation.

In the short term this is a repair mechanism. But when it becomes chronic, inflammation starts damaging the very glands and surface cells that keep your eyes comfortable. This is the stage where you start noticing redness or a persistent burning sensation, the eye’s way of saying “I’m still not okay.”

Furthermore, this inflammation also injures the glands that produce tears (lacrimal and meibomian glands) and the ocular surface itself. The meibomian glands that produce oil to stop tears from evaporating get clogged up. These glands are vital because the oil they produce is the only protective layer that prevents your tears from evaporating instantly. Without that protective layer, even mild airflow can dry your eyes within minutes.

Inflammation is often exacerbated or sustained by external factors and poor hygiene; examples include makeup residue, old mascara, and skipping lid cleansing. 

Step 3. Ocular Surface Damage 

The cornea, the clear window of your eye, depends on healthy surface cells and a stable tear film to stay smooth.

Constant dryness and inflammation roughen that surface. Micro-scratches appear, and the nerve endings underneath become hypersensitive.

Vision starts to fluctuate, sharp one moment and cloudy the next. This is because the surface can no longer maintain a consistent layer of moisture.

Step 4. Goblet Cell Loss 

The surface inflammation caused by the overly salty tears specifically damages and destroys important cells called goblet cells. These cells, found in the conjunctiva (the clear covering of the white of the eye), are responsible for making mucin.

Mucin acts like the sticky foundation of the tear film; it allows the watery tears to spread evenly and adhere properly to the eye's surface, which is naturally repellent to water. As these goblet cells die, the eye loses its ability to create this necessary foundation.

Step 5. Mucin Loss 

With fewer goblet cells, there is a significant reduction in the amount of mucin in the tears. Without this foundational mucin layer, the watery tears cannot stick to the eye and will instead bead up and pull away (like water rolling off a waxed car).

This is a disaster for the tear film stability because the tear layer instantly becomes patchy and unstable, breaking up immediately after a blink.

Step 6. Tear Film Instability 

The tear film is not just water; it’s a delicate, three-layered coating that needs to be perfectly balanced to protect and lubricate your eye. For the tear film to be stable, it needs its three layers (oil, water and mucin) to work in harmony).

Tear film instability means this coating is flawed and breaks up too quickly between blinks. Instead of remaining intact for 10 or more seconds, the unstable tear film fragments in just a few seconds, exposing the eye's surface to the air and triggering the next step in the cycle.

Each blink that should refresh the eye now redistributes instability instead. You notice inconsistent clarity and that familiar urge to blink again almost immediately.

Step 7. Excessive Evaporation 

When the tear film is unstable, the watery layer of your tears is no longer protected, leading to excessive evaporation. The watery tears evaporate very rapidly—sometimes instantly—into the air.

Even simple things such as driving with the window down, sleeping under a fan, or walking in the wind can strip away moisture in seconds.

At this stage, everything compounds. The tear film evaporates faster than it’s replenished, the remaining tears become overly concentrated and salty, the ocular surface cells remain inflamed, and the glands struggle to recover. And this is how the cycle restarts.

How to Break the Dry Eye Cycle

Lasting relief doesn’t come from using more and more eye drops; it comes from changing what keeps the system unstable.  While optimising your environment and habits is crucial, the inflammation and cellular damage within the cycle often require support beyond lubrication.

The biological complexity of the Dry Eye Cycle indicates a need for comprehensive, internal support. This internal strategy involves supplementing your diet with key micronutrients to stabilise the tear film and interrupt the cycle where it starts.

1. Blink More

People often assume eye strain comes from bright light. In reality, it’s from too little movement. When your gaze stays fixed especially when focusing on screens, tear evaporation accelerates and the eyes become strained.

Lower your screen slightly, let your focus drift into the distance between tasks, and stay hydrated. Each complete blink restores the tear film and gives the surface a chance to reset.

2. Stabilise the Air Around You

Your eyes can’t heal in an environment that constantly steals moisture. Redirect air-conditioning vents, add a small humidifier if the air feels dry, and protect your eyes outdoors with wraparound glasses.

These help to physically reduce evaporation and interrupt the final link of the cycle.

3. Prioritise Recovery, Not Just Rest

Sleep and stress share a direct line to inflammation. Short nights and chronic tension elevate cortisol, which dries the eyes as effectively as any heater vent. Consistent sleep and deliberate wind-down time allow tear glands and nerves to regenerate.

Even light exercise or mindful breathing helps lower inflammatory tone, a small shift that pays off each morning.

4. Eye Care and Hygiene

Warm compresses and gentle lid cleansing aren’t luxuries. They’re maintenance for the oil glands that keep tears stable. Think of them the way you think about brushing your teeth, not dramatic, just necessary.

A few minutes of warmth each day keeps oil flowing and the tear film resilient.

5. Eat for Eye Comfort

What you eat has a direct effect on how your eyes feel. The glands that make tears rely on healthy fats, and the surface cells depend on steady access to vitamins and antioxidants.

Fatty fish such as salmon, sardines, or mackerel are rich in omega-3s, which help keep the oil layer of your tears smooth and reduce inflammation that worsens dryness. Even two to three servings a week can make a noticeable difference in tear stability.

Bright orange and yellow vegetables like carrots, sweet potato, and pumpkin are high in vitamin A and carotenoids, which support the surface of the eye and help the cornea stay clear and well-hydrated.

Good food habits won’t replace medical care or targeted supplements like Nutravision, but they strengthen the foundation your eyes rely on every day.

6. Targeted Supplements to Restore Balance

Sometimes, even with the best diet and habits, your eyes need extra help to recover. Nutritional supplementation can deliver specific nutrients at levels that are difficult to achieve through food alone, supporting the same pathways involved in the Dry Eye Cycle.

Key ingredients to look for in a specialised dry eye formula include:

• Bilberry extract improves natural tear secretion; this reduces tear hyperosmolarity. and helps prevent the tears from becoming overly salty and unstable (Step 1).
• Saffron and grape seed extracts: These powerful antioxidants help modulate the oxidative stress and inflammation (Step 2) that cause damage and perpetuate the cycle.
• Methylcobalamin (vitamin B12) aids corneal nerve recovery and ocular surface repair (Step 3), supporting the eye's long-term resilience and comfort.
• Lutein and zeaxanthin protect the ocular surface from light-induced stress. helping to preserve goblet cell function (Step 4) and the quality of the tear film's mucin layer (Step 5).
• Vitamin D3 supports overall tear film stability (Step 6) and reduces excessive tear evaporation (Step 7).
  

Nutravision combines these research-backed ingredients in into one comprehensive daily formula. It doesn't act as a lubricant; instead, it supports the underlying biological stability your eyes need to break the cycle and maintain natural comfort over time.

Pam's Story

Pam was living a full life as a successful, well-travelled businesswoman and needlecraft enthusiast. But that all changed when her sore, red, and dry eyes started challenging her work, passions, and freedom.

Like any proactive person, Pam sought a solution, trying drops, gels, and home remedies, but any relief was always temporary.

“My dry eyes make me feel miserable. I constantly have very red eyes which is not an attractive look, and they interfere with my hobbies,” Pam recalls.

The discomfort took the enjoyment from her leisure activities, making travelling less exciting and the intricate work of needlecraft near-impossible. She tried general dietary supplements for a long-term fix, but they were ineffective.

“None of the eye drops or general vitamins helped my red, sore and dry eyes, which made me feel very frustrated and hopeless.”

Things began to turn around when she was introduced to Nutravision, an eye health supplement which targeted all 7 steps in the Dry Eye Cycle. Though initially skeptical, Pam committed to taking the supplement.

She notes: “I was very skeptical at first, but I just could not believe the improvements in my symptoms within a few weeks of starting Nutravision.”

The transformation was profound. The redness has virtually gone, and she is “no longer inconvenienced by having to instill lubricating drops and antihistamine drops in my eyes every day."

She adds, “My eyes are no longer tired at the end of the day in front of the computer, and I am enjoying needlecraft again.”

“Nutravision has changed my entire life, not just my daily life.”

Pam’s experience illustrates the profound difference that targeted supplementation can make in breaking the Dry Eye Cycle to deliver effective, lasting relief from dry, sore eyes.

If Pam's frustrating experience resonated with you, you're not alone.

You can read her full story here.

The Dry Eye Cycle Takeaway

Dry eyes don’t happen overnight, and they don’t get better overnight either. They’re the result of habits, environment, and how your eyes are cared for day after day.

Once you understand how the Dry Eye Cycle works, you can finally stop guessing. Every time you blink fully, drink enough water, rest properly, or take a supplement that supports eye health, such as Nutravision, you’re helping your eyes recover a little more.

It doesn’t happen all at once. But over time, those small changes add up. And when they do, your eyes stop feeling like a problem you have to manage — they just feel comfortable again.

Discover Nutravision today.