The urge to itch or rub your eyes is quite natural. It starts when you wake up, you get up and the first thing you do is rub your eyes. A gentle pressure while rubbing helps to remove the mucus, debris around the eyes, and let’s be honest it also brings a small sense of pleasure.
We all know prevention is better than cure, then why do we want to put our eyes in danger by rubbing them? Are you wondering how it is risky? In this blog, we are going to discuss the multiple risks involved in rubbing your eyes.
Risk of Infections
Now think, in your daily routine how much do you use your hands? Brushing your teeth, combing your hair, cooking your food, using your computer. There are multiple times the bacteria/ germs can cling to your hands even if you work in a super clean environment.
Touching your eyes with unwashed hands can be dangerous and result in transferring the germs which can cause infections involving staphylococcus, streptococcus, and salmonella.
If you absolutely want to touch or rub your eyes, wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and wipe your hands with a clean and dry towel.
Cornea Damage
Sometimes, we tend to rub our eyes again and again due to some irritants present in our eyes. So, what are those irritants? In addition to bacteria and germs, our hands are also exposed to debris, dust, and other foreign particles. Due to the large size of these objects, your eyes may itch or sting more. Rubbing your eyes may push these objects deeper into your eyes and may cause small scratches in the cornea.
Scratches in the eyes lead to redness, irritation, and light sensitivity. There might be serious complications like a fungal infection, or you may even lose your eyesight.
Dark Circles
There are a variety of reasons including fatigue, anemia, age, and allergies that can cause dark circles. But rubbing your eyes can also be one of the reasons. Wondering how? As compared to the rest of your face, the skin around the eyes is delicate and thin. When you rub your eyes, you can damage the blood vessels just beneath the surface which gives your skin a darker shadowy color.
It is advisable to wear a mask while sleeping so that you don’t rub your eyes when you’re asleep.
Additional Conditions
There are additional conditions like keratoconus (that can make your vision blurry) or distorted (astigmatism) or cause nearsightedness if you keep rubbing your eyes.
There can also be certain conditions like allergies and down syndrome which can lead to excessive rubbing during your childhood, resulting in weakening your corneal strength.
If you can’t stop rubbing your eyes, it is always recommended to seek help from the nearest eye doctor. Always remember that prevention is the best medicine.
This post is not intended to be medical advice. Always rely on your medical practitioners on matters related to your health.
Contact New York Ophthalmology at 866-599-8774 or request a consultation to schedule an appointment at one of our 5 locations in Queens, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn.
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