What is dry eye syndrome. Is it when your eyes water?

Question

At around the same time every night, my eyes burn and start to water and really sting. I have to take off my glasses and wash out my eyes with water to relieve the discomfort. Is this dry eye syndrome, and if it is, why is it called dry eye and not wet eye?? Sounds silly I know, but??

Answer 1

It does sound like it could be dry eyes or it could also possibly be there is something in your environment that you are around that time of day that irritates your eyes.  

You make a good point about dry versus wet eye and this point confuses a lot of people.  Your eye isn't getting  enough moisture so your body starts to produce tears.  The problem is the tears you start making are not good quality tears.  These tears don't stick around like normal tears do and instead often end up running down your face more than staying in your eye.  

I recommend you seeing an eye doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment.  There could be other problems affecting your eyes (such as allergies) that are contributing to the problem.