How to rub your eyes safely? An ophthalmologist gives his advice

Whether due to a long day on a screen, tiredness or simply a dust, we all know this feeling of itchy eye. Be careful, however, because this gesture, which may seem trivial, can have harmful effects on your eyes. In fact, over time, this can damage the cornea, which can blur vision. This action must therefore be carried out with caution.

So, how to rub your eyes safely? On the social network Instagram, Ygal Boujnah, doctor of ophthalmology based in Lyon, shared his advice for rubbing the eyes. The specialist, also known under the pseudonym @docteur_eye, is used to sharing advice with his community of more than 83,000 people. In this new publication, he explains how to rub your eyes safely.

This mistake not to make when rubbing your eyes, according to one ophthalmologist

In a first in, Dr Ygal Boujnah specifies that ideally, it is recommended to wash your hands, even if the latter admits not to do it systematically. Then, the specialist details: “What you need to do is avoid the cornea, the transparent part of the eye. Behind it, there is the iris, which gives the color of the eye”, he adds. The error would be topress too hard while rubbing your eyecar “this raises the eye strain”he explains.

Here’s how to rub your eye safely

Delicacy is therefore essential if you have an irrepressible desire to rub your eye. “I’ll scratch inside the eye instead.”, explains the specialist, pointing to the area at the edge of the eye, closest to the nose. The specialist specifies that you can also rub the outer part closest to the cheekbone.

Another solution, the ophthalmologist recommends rubbing at the level of the eyelid below the eye or above. “Often, it will be more below, because the dirt accumulates more at the level of the cul-de-sac of the mouth of the lower eyelid, that’s why we are rather bothered by the lower eyelid”explains the specialist.

Finally, if you need to touch the eye, you can gently place your hand on it. “The pressure will reduce the pain, because they are not the same voices in terms of nerve flow”he explains.

However, the specialist specifies that one technique stands out from the rest. To do this, you need to have eye drops. Dr. Ygal Boujnah advises firstly aiming at the hole in the lower eyelid and dropping a drop of water into the eyes, which creates artificial tears.

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