- Perceived as dirty, all droppings (or almost) have their uses. Elimination, filtration or even hydration: each plays its role to ensure the proper functioning of the body.
- Do you know the virtues of boogers, the usefulness of earwax or the amount of excrement that is eliminated in a lifetime?
- This summer, 20 Minutes reveals all the secrets of poop. And today, it's right in the eye.
This is usually a sign of someone getting out of bed, or of mild conjunctivitis. Small droppings, it often happens that we have in the corner of the eyes when waking up. And those who are prone to conjunctivitis produce more "eye poo" than others.
Is that bad ? Did you know that the quality of your tears is very important for the comfort of your eyes? And how do you clean them, her eyes, when they're all dirty? It's summer, so 20 Minutes takes the time to answer scientific-shameful questions that we don't always dare to ask.
What is eye poop made of?
"The surface of the eye is permanently covered with tears," explains Prof. Jean-François Korobelnik, head of the ophthalmology department at Bordeaux University Hospital and former president of the French Ophthalmology Society. They are composed of water, but also of fatty substances produced by the meibomian glands, sebaceous glands located in the epidermis of the eyelids ”. When the chassie (its learned name) - this somewhat viscous liquid - dries up and clumps together, it then looks like small droppings which lodge in the inner corner of the eyes.
And "in the event of infection or inflammation of the eye, the composition of the tears is modified," continues the ophthalmologist. For example, in conjunctivitis, which can be allergic, viral, bacterial, tear secretions also contain debris of inflammatory cells. This is what causes secretions to accumulate on the eyelids at the level of the eyelashes or at the level of the inner corner of the eye, adds Professor Korobelnik. There is no criterion of seriousness to the presence of these secretions, but if there are visual symptoms or important aggregates of secretions, it is necessary to consult an ophthalmologist for an examination of the ocular surface ”.
What's the point ?
“The fatty substances produced by the Meibomian glands enter into the composition of the tear film and prevent the tears from evaporating and thus protect the eyes from a very uncomfortable dryness, explains Professor Korobelnik. Tears allow the surface of the eye, the cornea, to stay permanently wet and transparent. If there is not enough, the surface of the cornea is damaged and this can cause infection or inflammation on the surface of the eye. Hence the importance of having good quality tears to ensure proper hydration of the eyes. This is why, in people who do not produce enough tears and who therefore suffer from dry eyes, the prescription of artificial tears is required to regain comfort ”.
How to clean them?
On a daily basis, with a glove wet with hot water, while washing in the morning, "or with physiological serum and eye drops prescribed by a specialist in the event of a disease of the eye", specifies Professor Korobelnik.
And while the Covid-19 pandemic is still far from over, we must not forget the respect of barrier gestures on a daily basis. "You have to wash your hands, and not only during coronavirus, insists the ophthalmologist. A whole bunch of other viruses get caught by the hands and can infect us through the conjunctiva, through the surface of the eye. Viral conjunctivitis is quite formidable, especially in children, so you have to respect basic hygiene rules. Viral diseases are contact diseases: if someone with viral conjunctivitis rubs their eyes and touches a doorknob, you touch that handle and then your eyes, you get their conjunctivitis ”.
However, we rub our eyes countless times throughout the day, and if our hands are dirty, this harmless gesture becomes a contaminating gesture.
Eye poo in numbers
Zero! Young parents may have noticed that a newborn baby cries a lot sometimes, loudly, but without tears. If crocodile tears roll down his cheeks a few months after birth, during his first weeks of life, a baby does not yet have fully formed tear glands, which explains his first “dry” crying.
Your eye poop and you
“I know that the little droppings in the corners of my eyes are not dirty, I myself sometimes wake up in the morning,” says Sarah. But seeing someone who has it in the middle of the day, sometimes still with a trace of a small tear that has dried in their sleep, is still a sign that the person is not washing their face. Suddenly, I find it dirty! And I am very happy to have the concrete excuse of barrier gestures, it finally gives me a valid reason not to kiss the cracras ”.
The unusual info
“Sometimes it happens that some people do not produce enough tears, and others suffer from diseases that make the eye dry, which imbalances the tear film, says Prof. Korobelnik. In the event of dry eye, artificial tears can be prescribed, which will lubricate and protect the eye ”. But there is a slightly more surprising treatment for those with excessively dry eyes. It is an implant, tested by researchers at the American University of Stanford. Placed near the tear glands, it sends them small electrical impulses that stimulate the production of tears.
Even more bizarre (and especially not to be reproduced!), An Argentinian artist has decided to express his creativity with his tears, which he uses as paint for his canvases (the video is here, but sensitive souls and fragile stomachs s' abstain).
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- Eyes
- Hygiene
- Health