We’ve talked about tears before, but do you know where they come from in the first place?

Tears are produced in the lacrimal gland and are secreted when you blink.

The lacrimal gland is located within the eye socket (the cavity in the skull that houses the eye), just below the outer corner of the eyebrow.

As we mentioned before, tears are made up of two layers: an oily layer and a liquid layer.
The oily layer is secreted by the meibomian glands and prevents tears from evaporating.
The liquid layer is the main component of tears and is made up of water and mucin.
Water is secreted by the lacrimal glands, and mucin is made by goblet cells (conjunctival germ cells) and helps distribute tears evenly over the surface of the eye and stabilizes them on the surface of the eye.

When you blink, tears flow from the lacrimal gland through the excretory ducts to the surface of the eye.
After moistening the surface of the eye, tears pass from the lacrimal puncta at the inner corner of the eye, through the lacrimal sac, and then through the nasolacrimal duct at the back of the nose, where they are absorbed by the mucous membrane.