Can Dry Eyes Cause Headaches?

Dry eye occurs when the eyes don’t produce enough tears or when tears evaporate (dry up) too quickly. Your eyes may become red and irritated, and your vision may blur.

Research suggests that dry eye and headaches often occur together. In particular, people who experience migraines are more likely to have dry eye, and vice versa.

Knowing how these conditions affect each other can help you get the proper diagnosis and treatment.

Dry eyes and headaches are connected in several ways. More research is necessary to understand the connection, but researchers have identified a few reasons they might occur together:

Inflammation and Nerve Activity

Dry eye and migraines are both strongly tied to inflammation, which affects nerves involved in both conditions.

Inflammation makes the corneal nerves more sensitive in people with dry eyes. Corneal nerves are located in the cornea, the transparent part of the front of your eye. The cornea is involved in the blink reflex, tear production, and wound healing. When inflammation affects nerve activity in one condition, this may trigger or worsen the other condition. 

Dry eyes can also trigger your eyes to make more tears, which activates the trigeminal nerve, a key player in migraine attacks. Both conditions also involve photophobia (light sensitivity), so they may connect through a common nerve pathway (communication network).

Eye Irritation

Eye irritation might lead to headaches in people with dry eye.

When your eyes are irritated, you might blink more often, squint, or rub them, which can strain the muscles around them. Tension in these muscles can spread to other muscles in your face, neck, or shoulders. Eventually, this muscle tension may lead to a tension headache.

Tension headaches are the most common type of headache. Tension headaches:

• Cause pain or pressure all over the head, in the face, or neck
• Can range from mild to severe
• Can last from 30 minutes to seven days 
• Do not usually cause an aura, nausea, or vomiting (like migraines do)

There are many types of headaches, ranging from mild tension headaches to painful migraines. Each type has several possible triggers, which may differ from one person to another.

General factors that commonly trigger headaches include:

• Stress or fatigue
• Dehydration
• Poor sleep
• Neck or shoulder tension from sitting or sleeping in an unnatural position
• Weather changes
• Hormonal changes
• Smoking
• Sunlight
• Certain medicines

For some people, certain foods, food additives, or drinks may lead to headaches:

• Foods: Aged cheeses, cured meats, salted nuts
• Food additives: Aspartame, monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• Drinks: Alcohol or caffeine, or withdrawal from them

Headaches can also result from underlying health conditions that affect the brain, such as:

• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Stroke
• Infection
• Brain tumor or injury

If you have dry eye, treating the condition may help prevent headaches. Treatment for dry eye may include:

• Artificial tears: Over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription-strength eye drops, gels, and ointments are available to help keep your eyes moist. Prescription eye drops such as Restasis (cyclosporine) and Xiidra (lifitegrast) help your eyes produce more tears.
• At-home treatment options: Try reducing eyelid inflammation with warm compresses, eyelid massages, or eyelid cleaners. Taking an omega-3 (fish oil) supplement might also help.
• Tear duct plugs: Tear duct plugs, silicone plugs inserted into your tear ducts, can help you hold onto the tears you naturally produce if they tend to drain too quickly. An optometrist (a specialist who performs eye prescription exams, diagnoses some eye conditions, and prescribes certain medications) or an ophthalmologist (an eye doctor who can diagnose and treat more complex eye conditions) may recommend this treatment.
• Surgery: In rare cases, dry eye stems from a problem with the structure of your eye, making it difficult to produce tears. Surgery can help correct this.

Treating Migraine in Women and Children

Headaches, particularly migraines, are more common in women than in men. Some women experience migraines due to hormonal changes throughout the month. In these cases, hormone therapy may be an effective treatment option.

Children can also have migraines. They typically begin having mild headaches, which develop into migraines as they get older. Along with their headache, children may experience stomach pain and irritability. Treating headaches in children may focus on improving sleep, diet, and exercise habits.

If you’re unsure what type of headache your child has, ask them to draw a picture of how it feels. This may help a healthcare provider diagnose and treat the headache properly.

You may be able to help prevent dry eye from occurring in the first place. Try making changes to your daily habits, such as:

• Use a humidifier to increase the moisture of the air in your home or office
• Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water and other clear liquids
• Take frequent breaks from looking at screens, and blink often during periods of screen time
• Wear sunglasses outside; the wraparound style may be especially helpful
• Avoid windy conditions as well as air vents blowing into your eyes
• Avoid secondhand smoke
• Prioritize getting enough good-quality sleep

Avoiding known headache triggers will help you prevent headaches. Some methods of preventing dry eye may also work for headaches. If you do develop a headache, treatment may include:

• OTC pain medicines like Tylenol (acetaminophen), Advil (ibuprofen), or Bayer (aspirin)
• Prescription drugs like triptans, ergotamines, antidepressants, or muscle relaxers
• Relaxation and stress-management techniques such as meditation, massage, or acupuncture
• Cold or warm compresses

Dry eye and headaches are common and usually no cause for concern. However, tell your healthcare provider if dry eye or headache symptoms affect you frequently. Treatment can help resolve these symptoms and improve your quality of life.

Certain signs may point to a more serious condition. Call 911 or contact a healthcare provider right away if you have:

• Dry eye accompanied by dry mouth and joint pain, swelling, or stiffness
• Dry eye accompanied by a sore, discharge, or flaking on your eye
• Dry eye accompanied by bulging eyes or a drooping eyelid
• Headache pain that is severe or begins suddenly
• A headache accompanied by trouble speaking, seeing, or walking
• Vomiting along with a headache
• A headache accompanied by a stiff neck and a high fever

Dry eye occurs when a lack of tears leads to irritation, redness, blurriness, and light sensitivity. Dry eye and headaches may be related due to shared inflammatory and nerve-sensitivity processes.

Eye drops and tear duct plugs can help treat dry eyes, while medications and stress relief can help relieve headaches.

Consider speaking to your healthcare provider if dry eyes or headaches are interfering with your daily life or causing extreme symptoms.