Why Your Eyes Might Feel Dry—and Why It’s Probably Not Just Your Contacts

If you’ve ever noticed your eyes feeling dry, itchy, gritty, or tired—especially at the end of the day—you’re not alone. And you’re not imagining it. These are some of the most common symptoms of dry eye disease, a condition that affects millions of people but is often misunderstood or overlooked.

Here’s the surprising part: for many people, dry eye doesn’t start when the symptoms begin. It starts years earlier, quietly progressing before anyone notices. But the good news is, once we understand the signs, we can start treating it early—and that can make a huge difference in how your eyes feel every day.

Let me explain.

It’s Not Just Your Dry Contacts

A lot of patients come to me saying something like, “My contacts just aren’t comfortable anymore,” or, “I thought LASIK would fix my dry eyes.” In many cases, they’ve stopped wearing contacts altogether, or had refractive surgery hoping that would solve the issue.

But the real problem usually isn’t the contacts.

Most of the time, the discomfort starts because the surface of the eye—the tear film and the oil glands that support it—aren’t working the way they should. Contact lenses just make the problem more noticeable. They sit on the eye all day, so if the tear film is weak or unstable, your eyes will feel it. But take away the lenses, and the root issue is still there—it just takes longer to show up again.

I’ve seen many patients who had LASIK 10 or 15 years ago and are now dealing with dry, irritated eyes. The surgery didn’t cause the dry eye—it just didn’t fix the real reason they were uncomfortable in contacts to begin with.

The Clues Are in Your Lifestyle

We can often spot dry eye coming before the symptoms even start. Certain risk factors make it much more likely:

• Women over 40 – Hormonal changes can affect tear production and gland function.

• Screen time – If you spend hours a day on a computer, tablet, or phone, your blink rate slows down. That means tears evaporate faster, leaving your eyes dry and irritated.

• Contact lens wear – Especially if you’ve ever felt itchy or uncomfortable when taking them out.

• Certain medications – Accutane, antidepressants like Lexapro, allergy medications, and others can all reduce tear production or affect your glands.

• Health conditions – Thyroid issues, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and other autoimmune conditions often go hand in hand with dry eye symptoms.

You don’t need to have all of these to be at risk. Even just one or two may be enough for dry eye to start quietly affecting your comfort—and your quality of life.

What You Feel Isn’t “Normal”

If your eyes burn by the end of the day, if you avoid reading at night because your vision gets blurry, or if you just chalk it up to “getting older,” let me be clear: this is not normal, and you don’t have to live with it.

Dry eye is a real medical condition. It’s not just annoying—it can lead to long-term irritation, damage to the surface of your eye, and even affect your vision. But the earlier we catch it, the easier it is to manage.

We have treatments now that go far beyond artificial tears. We can look at your glands, test the quality of your tear film, and create a plan that’s tailored to your specific symptoms and risk factors. Whether it’s lifestyle changes, prescription treatments, or in-office therapies, there are real solutions that work.

Don’t Wait Until It’s Miserable

Here’s what I want every patient to know: dry eye is easier to treat when we catch it early.

If we wait until your eyes are constantly red, irritated, or blurry, the damage is harder to reverse. But if we catch it when the symptoms are mild—or even before they fully start—we can keep your eyes comfortable and healthy for the long run.

So if you’ve noticed dryness, burning, blurry vision, or that your contacts just aren’t as comfortable as they used to be, let’s talk. Let’s look deeper. Because most of the time, it’s not just your contacts—and it’s definitely not “just in your head.”

It’s dry eye. And we can do something about it.