It sounds backwards, but watery eyes are one of the most common dry eye complaints we hear. When the surface of your eye is irritated from dryness, it triggers reflex tearing — the eye’s emergency response to irritation. The problem is that these flood tears are mostly water, without the oily layer produced by healthy meibomian glands, so they don’t lubricate the eye or stay in place. They spill over, your eyes keep watering, and the underlying dryness never improves. If your eyes stream in the wind or water constantly while still feeling irritated, that pattern points toward dry eye — and specifically toward a tear quality problem, which is exactly what gland-focused treatments are designed to address.