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Why Does Crying Make My Nose Run?

Every minute, a person generates about 1 or 2 microliters worth of tears. They are a mix of oil, mucus, and water, secreted from different glands and cells around the eye. Tears serve to keep the eyeball surface lubricated. When you blink, your lids work like windshield wipers to push those tears into a pair of tiny holes called puncta, which lead to two sacs between the eyes. Blinking also squeezes those sacs, draining the liquid down the back of the nose and throat. This system operates throughout the day, though you’d never notice.

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 Your Tears Might Save Your Life Someday

They could ultimately be used to find diseases the way blood tests do now—but cheaper and more easily.

Articles of Interest

Facts About Tears

A happy ending to a story, a sad break-up, an onion chopped into pieces—they all can trigger your tears. Tears serve many purposes, and your eyes produce them all the time. In fact, you make 15 to 30 gallons of tears each year.

Tears as chemical signals – smell of female tears affects sexual behaviour of men

Gelstein used several different techniques to show that the smell of a woman’s emotional tears could reduce a man’s sexual arousal. The men never actually saw anyone cry, and they didn’t know about what they were smelling. Even so, their sniffs reduced their testosterone levels and they lowered the activity in parts of their brain involved in sexual desire.

The luxury of tears

The old idea that people in developed countries suppress their emotions is being overturned. As Matthew Sweet discovers, we cry more as our societies get richer.

The Microscopic Structures of Dried Human Tears

Photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher captures tears of grief, joy, laughter and irritation in extreme detail.

The Philosophy and Poetry of Tears

Here is a definition of tears that we can accept without aversion, — tears are the bright, bodily form of feeling. The poet does not tell us that when we weep we are doing nothing more than secreting a mucous fluid by means of the lachrymal gland, He feels bound, however, to state the fact that tears are not more pure than dewdrops.

The Power of Tears

Tears literally enable us to see. They lubricate our eyeballs and eyelids, thus preventing our eyes from dehydrating. They also provide a smooth surface for refracting light, supply oxygen, and are a vital component of the ocular defense system that protects against a range of pathogens.

The Science of Tears

Tears are beneficial to the eye’s health, but they’re also a critical aspect of emotional and social communication.

What Are Tears Made Of?

We have three separate glands responsible for creating good quality tears. The meibomian glands produce the oil in our tears. The lacrimal glands create the volume of tears. The conjunctiva, the clear tissue covering the white of our eyes and inside our lids, produces the mucus.

What Do Tears Look Like?

Many cultures view tears as shameful, a sign of weakness. But for Fisher, they are a force for unity and connection: our deepest responses to life's joys and tragedies, regardless of race, gender or nationality.

‘Crocodile tears’ are surprisingly similar to our own

Most of us think of tears as a human phenomenon, part of the complex fabric of human emotion. But they’re not just for crying: All vertebrates, even reptiles and birds, have tears, which are critical for maintaining healthy eyesight.