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It’s Election Day, so let’s talk about why our eyes get puffy when we cry
We have 3 kinds of tears: basal tears (always there), reflex tears (noxious stimuli), emotional tears (democracy collapsing).
Emotional tears come from the lacrimal gland, the big ass gland in your upper eyelid, pictured here by Netter
Emotional tears come from the lacrimal gland, the big ass gland in your upper eyelid, pictured here by Netter
When you cry heavily, like when somebody breaks up with you or you’re on a step 1 test break in the prometric bathroom, the lacrimal gland goes into hyperdrive. All that activity eventually causes inflammation and swelling around the gland
Additionally, emotional tears have a slightly lower concentration than other types of tears as well as the periocular tissue. Therefore, all that excess cry water will move to the surrounding higher concentration tissue, causing swelling
Then you enter into a vicious cycle where you get all swollen, then you look in the mirror, which makes you cry even more and you get even more swollen. The cycle continues until your brain says “ok good lord that’s enough” and makes you fall asleep.
