From scratching your cornea and tearing your retina to introducing allergens and causing infections, pawing at your peepers just doesn’t pay off.

Rubbing our eyes: It’s something we all mindlessly do once — or a few times — daily. We know we’re not supposed to rub them because our parents told us not to. But we still do it.

We do it because our eyes are tired, or itchy, or irritated. Because we’ve been crying or standing too close to a smokey barbecue. We do it because the words we’ve spent hours staring at on our laptops are starting to blur. But we don’t rub our eyes when we’re chopping onions or making our famous mango habanero salsa. We know better! That could end very badly!

But here’s the thing: Rubbing your eyes could always end badly.

That’s why optometrist Weston Tuten, OD, says we should take extra care when interacting with both the delicate skin surrounding our eyes and our eyeballs themselves. He explains why rubbing your eyes is bad for you — and why it’s so, so tempting to do it anyway.

Is it bad to rub your eyes?

In a word: Yes. It’s bad to rub your eyes. And Dr. Tuten adds that it’s even worse to rub your eyes with unwashed hands.

Eyes are delicate pieces of equipment, and rubbing at them can cause both structural damage and disease. So, why exactly do we do it?

Read more: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/dangers-of-rubbing-itchy-eyes

Source: Clevland Clinic

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