If you’ve got bad allergies or stare at a computer screen all day, sometimes nothing feels more satisfying then giving your eyes a good rub. There’s a reason it feels therapeutic: Rubbing eyes stimulates the vagus nerve, which can slow down your heartbeat and relieve stress.
Here are the REASONS you should STOP EYE RUBBING:
Long term Eye disease:
Studies have shown that continuous eye rubbing can lead to thinning of the corneal tissue, which weakens the cornea and pushes it forward to become more conical. This thinning is an eye disease called keratoconus, which is a serious condition that can lead to distorted vision and ultimately the need for a corneal transplant. Read more about keratoconus here.
Eye rubbing causes the most danger to people with certain pre-existing eye conditions. People with progressive myopia (near-sightedness which is VERY common) may find that rubbing worsens their eyesight.
People with glaucoma may find a spike in eye pressure caused by rubbing the eyes that can also disrupt blood flow to the back of the eye and lead to nerve damage, which ultimately can cause permanent loss of vision!
Injury:
Sometimes people get a something stuck in their eye and the natural instinct is to rub to try and remove the object. As natural as it is to try to get it out, it is actually the worse idea because rubbing the object against your eye can easily cause a corneal scratch, which is known as a corneal abrasion. Corneal Abrasions can be REALLY painful and take some time to heal, and that’s assuming they don’t get infected.
Risk of Infection- Pink Eye:
When you rub your eye, these germs are easily transferred and can often cause infections like conjunctivitis (or pink eye). While you can use a ton of hand sanitizer and wash your hands hundreds of times a day, if you rub your eyes, you’re always going to be putting yourself at a higher risk of eye infection.
Dark Circles and Blood Shot Eyes:
Eye rubbing causes tiny blood vessels to break which in turn causes blood-shot eyes and those dark, unsightly circles under your eyes that everyone is always trying to avoid or cover with makeup.
If you’ve got bad allergies or stare at a computer screen all day, sometimes nothing feels more satisfying then giving your eyes a good rub. There’s a reason it feels therapeutic: Rubbing eyes stimulates the vagus nerve, which can slow down your heartbeat and relieve stress.
Here are the REASONS you should STOP EYE RUBBING:
Long term Eye disease:
Studies have shown that continuous eye rubbing can lead to thinning of the corneal tissue, which weakens the cornea and pushes it forward to become more conical. This thinning is an eye disease called keratoconus, which is a serious condition that can lead to distorted vision and ultimately the need for a corneal transplant. Read more about keratoconus here.
Eye rubbing causes the most danger to people with certain pre-existing eye conditions. People with progressive myopia (near-sightedness which is VERY common) may find that rubbing worsens their eyesight.
People with glaucoma may find a spike in eye pressure caused by rubbing the eyes that can also disrupt blood flow to the back of the eye and lead to nerve damage, which ultimately can cause permanent loss of vision!
Injury:
Sometimes people get a something stuck in their eye and the natural instinct is to rub to try and remove the object. As natural as it is to try to get it out, it is actually the worse idea because rubbing the object against your eye can easily cause a corneal scratch, which is known as a corneal abrasion. Corneal Abrasions can be REALLY painful and take some time to heal, and that’s assuming they don’t get infected.
Risk of Infection- Pink Eye:
When you rub your eye, these germs are easily transferred and can often cause infections like conjunctivitis (or pink eye). While you can use a ton of hand sanitizer and wash your hands hundreds of times a day, if you rub your eyes, you’re always going to be putting yourself at a higher risk of eye infection.
Dark Circles and Blood Shot Eyes:
Eye rubbing causes tiny blood vessels to break which in turn causes blood-shot eyes and those dark, unsightly circles under your eyes that everyone is always trying to avoid or cover with makeup.
