Where Do Tears Originate?

Tears come from glands above your eyes, then drain into your tear ducts

(small holes in the inner corners of your eyes) and down through your nose. When your eyes don't make enough tears, or your tears don't work the right way, you can get dry eye.

Where do tears actually come from?

All tears come out of tear glands, or lacrimal (say: LAH-krum-ul) glands, found way up under your upper eyelids. Tears wash down from the glands and over your eyes. Some of the tears drain out of your eyes through tear ducts, or lacrimal ducts. These ducts are tiny tubes that run between your eyes and your nose.

Why do tears come out when we cry?

Any tears left over drain through a special drainage system that goes through to your nose. When we cry – and I hope you don't cry too often – we make more tears than the eye can hold. This is because the largest tear gland can switch on and produce a lot of tears at once, just like a little fountain.