Rubbing your eyes is a trivial act, often wrongly considered harmless. Recent studies show, however, that it can cause deformation of the cornea, and develop astigmatism or myopia.

Tired, irritated, or dry eye, and now your fingers come closer to him to help him with a few rubs… Don’t do it anymore! Recent studies have indeed shown that rubbing the eyes increases the risk of developing a corneal disease, keratoconus.

MRI experiment

Is rubbing your eyes so dangerous? In the short term, probably not, but the damage increases in the long term. Indeed, when our fingers press against the eye, the latter sees itself being abused within its orbit. This result was demonstrated through MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) shots, in which volunteers rubbed their eyes in different ways. We see in the images the eye being deformed, flattened, and worse, pushed against the bone wall that surrounds it (its socket). The cornea is also subject to friction against the eyelids, which can lead to microcracks.

Risk of corneal deformation

All these disturbances present a main risk, the development of a keratocone, corneal disease. The latter is the interface of our eye with the world around it. Its role is essential in the correct deflection of light rays towards the lens and the retina. However, with a keratoconus, the cornea as its name suggests loses its shape of a bulging lens, to take that of a cone. A much more uneven shape than a lens, which leads to a scattering of light rays.

This deformity is permanent, and will require either the wearing of lenses, glasses, or surgical operations to repair it.

The risks of keratoconus

Keratoconus (requested means “horny” while cone designates the cone) is therefore a deformation of the cornea. It can start on its own, especially in young people, but rubbing your eyes seems to be a significant risk factor. It can affect both eyes with different proportions (if one eye is more “rubbed” than another), and is irreversible.

The evolution follows various symptoms, from the least serious to the most serious:

• Loss of visual acuity, the patient feels that his sight diminishes and becomes more blurred, a sign of incipient myopia.
• Onset of astigmatism, the vision becomes more and more blurred, the letters merge.
• Visible deformation of the cornea, which takes the shape of a rugby ball, more oval than round.
• Lesions And Perforation, in the most severe cases, the cornea tears in places or even splits, which suddenly reduces the patient’s vision.

The treatment of a keratoconus goes from the simple wearing of a contact lens, corneal transplant.

If rubbing our eyes is so dangerous for them, then why does our body seem to be telling us that the practice is enjoyable? The fault lies with the tear fluid. This small bag contains a salty fluid, at the origin of our tears, whose role is to moisten the eye. When we rub our eyes, this liquid pours out, and the eye becomes wetter. So we see more clearly, and the feeling of gene happens.

Unfortunately, our eyes are very insensitive, due to the lack of integrated nerves, and they cannot tell us the deformations they are undergoing. Otherwise, we would probably experience pain every time we rub our eyes.

Rubbing our eyes is a habit for many of us. This starts very early, and it is common to see young children rub their eyes (sometimes even with clenched fists and pressing very hard!). Better to prevent them as much as possible from doing this practice, before they get used to it.

For adults already used to rubbing their eyes, it’s not too late. If none of the symptoms of corneal deformity, keratoconus, are visible, then you might as well stop before it’s too late. Rather than rubbing your eyes, blink them several times. This should dump tear fluid on the eye, and therefore remove the discomfort if there is an allergy or irritation. On the other hand, if this discomfort persists, or is localized on the side of the eye, you can lightly rub the contours of the eyes without risk. The idea is above all to avoid putting pressure on the eye, and especially on the front and the cornea.