Stop it! Frequent eye rubbing may induce this eye disease, which can cause blindness in severe cases!

"My eyes are tired, itchy, or uncomfortable... can you rub them?"

Watch out! Rubbing your eyes frequently may cause a series of harms, and in severe cases, it may even lead to blindness!

01 Aggravation of myopia and astigmatism

When we rub our eyes, we usually close them tightly. At this time, the eyeball moves upward, and the pressure of rubbing the eyes acts on the bottom of the eyeball. This pressure can cause improper stimulation of the eyeball, resulting in eye pressure flashes.

Rubbing your eyes too hard may also make the curvature below the cornea uneven, causing temporary mild astigmatism. In the long run, it will aggravate myopia and astigmatism.

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02May cause keratoconus

When you rub your eyes, your cornea bends and deforms.

For a short period of time, light cannot be focused accurately on the retina.

Therefore, after rubbing your eyes, things you see will be blurry.

But the cornea is also elastic and can return to its original shape after a few seconds.

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If you rub your eyes frequently, your cornea will become fragile and affect its shape. For people with congenital corneal structural abnormalities or suspected keratoconus patients, frequent eye rubbing will aggravate corneal lesions and develop into keratoconus, a blinding eye disease.

03Causes eye infection and inflammation

Our hands, as the direct contact with the outside world, often carry countless bacteria and viruses. Even if we wash them frequently, it is still difficult to completely eliminate those tenacious microorganisms.

Once you rub your eyes with hands covered with germs, it is like opening a door to disease. Those tiny pathogens will take the opportunity to sneak into our eyes, causing infection and inflammation, making the eyes red, swollen, itchy, etc. In addition to washing your hands frequently, you also need to stay vigilant.

Conjunctivitis, styes, and blocked meibomian glands are all common problems caused by bacteria entering the eyes. If you already have eye inflammation, repeated rubbing of the eyes will only make the condition worse.

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04Eye congestion, corneal abrasion

If you do not pay attention to eye hygiene and rub your eyes frequently, your eyes will easily become red, swollen and congested.

Once chronic inflammation forms, it can also lead to eye stones and the risk of corneal abrasions.

Eye stones are yellow-white hard particles formed by the shedding of epithelial cells.

Early conjunctival stones are mild and easy to treat.

However, long-term accumulation of conjunctival stones will inevitably rub the cornea.

It can cause corneal abrasions, and in severe cases, corneal ulcers and erosions, which directly affect vision.

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Proper relief for eye discomfort

1. Blink more

If you don't blink for a long time, the tears on the cornea surface evaporate, which can easily cause dry eyes. If you want to reduce eye discomfort, you should blink more often to let the tears moisten your eyes.

2. Relax your eyes

To avoid discomfort caused by excessive eye use, you should pay attention to controlling the time you use your eyes in your daily life. You can do more eye massages and hot compresses to relieve eye tension and relax your eyes.

3. Use eye drops

If the itchy eyes are caused by inflammation or allergies, you can use some eye drops under the guidance of a doctor.

4. Properly handle foreign matter in the eye

Rinse with clean water or saline , or gently lift the eyelids to find the foreign body and wipe it off with a wet cotton swab. If the foreign body cannot be flushed out or the situation is serious, seek professional diagnosis and treatment immediately.