What's Wrong With Rubbing The Eyes

After surgery, eye surgeons tell you to avoid rubbing the eye. And this makes a lot of sense. After lasik we want you to avoid disrupting the lasik flap. After cataract surgery or refractive lens exchange, we don’t want to disrupt the small incision. But avoiding rubbing isn’t just limited to surgeries. Even if you had no surgery at all, you still want to avoid rubbing the eyes.

But without surgery, there is nothing to disrupt; so what’s the issue? While rubbing my not cause immediate problems, it can cause long term issues with the eye. The main concern is weakening the cornea. Using your knuckle or palm and vigorously rubbing your eye applies pressure to the cornea. By applying repeated pressure to the cornea, the cornea can become weak. This weakness can lead to the cornea changing shape and developing keratoconus over a longer period of time. Thus, it is important to avoid rubbing the eyes in order to keep the cornea nice and strong.

It can be hard to resist the urge to rub the eye. Itchy eyes from allergies and dryness and irritation all create a strong desire to rub the discomfort away. However, instead of rubbing the eyes, the better path is to treat those conditions. For allergies that means an allergy eye drop. For dryness that means using artificial tears. And in the end, your eyes will thank you!

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