An Encounter With Tears
Crying is pretty common . Usually crying is accompanied with tears in the eyes except in the case of a new born baby . Newborns don't produce enough tears to be visible . At birth a newborn baby’s tear ducts are not fully developed . Everybody has to face tears at some point of time in his / her eyes at all ages . Sometimes it may be due to sorrow or anger or frustration and sometimes it happens in happy moments too .
On the other hand there may be some people who never cry / cried . This is unusual and it is a sign of a problem which may be due to various reasons - medical and / or mental illness like bipolar . Such people are not socially connected .
When we cry our body releases two hormones - endorphins and oxytocin .These hormones help relieve stress , lessen pains , boost mood to feel better and improve general well being .
Sometimes neurological issues may cause uncontrolled tears , as in Alzheimer’s disease , stroke or other brain issues . In such cases one must seek doctor’s advice . Dry eyes also produce tears . We produce less tears as we get older . Women make more tears than men .
But Why do we cry - We cry for a number of reasons , mainly due to emotions . Cause of emotions may be sorrow , happiness , anger or frustration etc. and tears roll down our eyes . There may be physical or medical reasons e.g.when our eyes are hit with something or some foreign particle gets into our eyes or might be due to other medical issues with eyes. Also while chopping onions it’s common to have tears in eyes .
Tears of sadness can be understood but why tears in happiness . Happiness tears are not age or gender specific .This can happen with anyone who experiences emotions. This emotion may be due to various reasons like a surprise meeting after a long time with one close to your heart , unexpected very good results in an exam. or getting an appointment letter etc.
Different ingredients and types of tears
It is believed by scientists that tears due to emotions are different from tears due to other reasons . Every tear is not made of the same ingredients. The fluid of our tears is usually made of -
1 . water for moisturizing
2 . oils for lubrication and to avoid tears from evaporating fast.
3 . Mucus to spread tears evenly across eyes
4 . The mucus also consists of antibiotics and some proteins to resist any possible infection.
5 . Tears also contain some minerals like Sodium ( salt ) , Calcium , Potassium and Magnesium .
6 . There isn’t any blood vessel on the eyes , tears carry oxygen and other nutrients evenly to the surface cells of the eyes .
Jobs our tears in eyes do -
1 . Tears moisten our eyes
2 . Tears flush out foreign elements from eyes
3 .Tears prevent infections
4 . Express our emotions when we shed tears in sadness or happiness .
Types of Tears - Mainly there are three types of tears and each has to perform different jobs .
1 . Basal Tears - They are our basic tears which our eyes shed all day. They consist of water, oil , mucus , and salt to fight infection. Blinking spreads them evenly on the surface of the eyes . They can help eyes focus and improve vision.
2 . Emotional Tears - These tears flood in response to strong emotions as in joy or sadness . Besides having ingredients of Basal Tears they have stress hormones and natural painkillers . Usually our tears relay chemical messages to people close to us and attract their attention .
3. Irritant Tears - These are our eyewash . The glands under our eyebrows flush them out when we cut onions or while vomiting or when dust etc. gets in .
Bottom Line - Tears are normal and natural response to a human being’s strong emotions which he / she might develop due to various reasons like joy, sorrow etc. as said above.They are pretty helpful in conveying messages to your near and dear ones , seeing which they come closer to you . They connect and bond with you , they support and share your emotions. They can lessen and shorten your pain , comfort you and relax your stress.
