Why Rubbing Your Eyes is Bad for You?

You can rub a sore muscle or rub in a shared joke between friends, but it is never advised to rub your eyes. Your mom probably told you not to; your doctor might have mentioned it, and both sources advised you to refrain with good reason.

Our hands contain traces of bacteria and germs that we unknowingly carry from numerous sources, including:

• Touching things at work, school, or other public places, including doorknobs, railings, desks, shared keyboards, etc.
• Handling currency that has passed from hand-to-hand and place-to-place
• Touching anything that was handled by someone with a virus, such as a facial tissue box, a medicine bottle cap, used cups, countertops etc.

Eye rubbing can transport a variety of germs from your hands to the eye, increasing the risk of eye stys and numerous other infections and types of irreversible damage.

Infections That Can be caused by Rubbing Your Eye

Rubbing That Causes Eye Damage

We all do it every once in a while; we wake up in the morning and use our fingers, knuckles, or our palms to rub our eyes. Yet this is the unhealthiest time of the day to do so. In the morning, the cornea may already be swollen from surplus fluid, developing from low overnight oxygen levels within the eye. Rubbing your eyes increases the force on your ocular nerves and eyeball, and transfers pressure to the back of your socket and optic nerves. While most individuals’ eye pressure returns to normal when they stop rubbing, it is possible to cause an eye condition from firm or repeated irritation.

Alternatives to Rubbing

Instead of rubbing your eyes, opt instead for a variety of safe alternatives to relieve eye itching:

• Use lubricating eye drops, which are gentle and can be applied often
• Relieve irritation using natural remedies by apply a cool towel or cucumber slices to the eyelid
• Employ the use of safe, over-the-counter allergy medications for swollen or itchy eyes, following the directions on the package