Clinical and basic research has indicated that chronic inflammation of the ocular surface underlies the pathology of dry eye (Craig et al., 2017); hence, we hypothesized that chronic ocular dryness causes abnormalities in sensory nerve excitations through the nociceptor TRPV1 in the same manner as in other inflammatory disorders. The gene discussed is TRPV1; the disease is Keratoconjunctivitis sicca.