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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 are essential to help you see clearly and maintain the health of your eyes. They can also help communicate your emotions. Your body makes three types of tears: basal tears, reflex tears, and emotional tears.

Basal tear production slows with age, and this can lead to the development of dry eye. Dry eye is a common problem for people undergoing hormonal changes, especially women during pregnancy and menopause. Contact lenses and certain medications can also cause dry eye. If you have dry eye, you may also be prone to blepharitis, a common cause of irritation or swelling of the eyelids.