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Eye rubbing: Make patients aware of consequences

Healio Optometry5h ago1 min read

Eye rubbing is a common, often involuntary response to stimuli such as stress and fatigue as well as dermatologic and ophthalmologic conditions that cause irritation or itchiness.While occasional eye rubbing is fundamentally harmless, repeated, intense rubbing can have severe consequences, well known by ophthalmologists but ignored by many people.“While parents have forever told their children not to touch their eyes, ‘don’t rub your eyes, that’s not good for you’, they don’t fully know the extent of the damage that this might cause,” Bibiana Jin Reiser, MD, MBA, pediatric cornea specialist

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AI Summary

Quick Take

While eye rubbing is often an involuntary response to fatigue or irritation, repeated and intense rubbing can lead to severe ocular damage that many patients and parents underestimate. Pediatric cornea specialists emphasize that the public remains largely unaware of the permanent structural consequences associated with this common habit.

Why It Matters

Chronic eye rubbing is a primary mechanical risk factor for the development and progression of corneal ectasia, including keratoconus. In a clinical setting, patients often dismiss rubbing as a harmless reaction to allergies or stress, failing to realize they may be physically reshaping their corneas. For eye care providers, this highlights a critical need for better patient education to bridge the gap between common behavior and long-term visual health risks.

Key Details

Eye rubbing is frequently triggered by involuntary stimuli such as stress, fatigue, and dermatologic or ophthalmologic conditions.
Occasional rubbing is considered fundamentally harmless, but repeated or intense pressure is linked to severe ocular consequences.
Pediatric cornea specialist Bibiana Jin Reiser, MD, notes that parents often warn children against touching their eyes without understanding the actual extent of potential damage.
The behavior is often a response to irritation or itchiness that may require medical management of the underlying cause.

Practice Implications

Clinicians should move beyond simple warnings and specifically educate patients on the mechanical risks of corneal thinning and distortion. When eye rubbing is identified, providers should investigate and treat the underlying source of irritation—such as ocular surface disease or allergies—to eliminate the stimulus for the behavior.

Who's Affected

Pediatric OptometristsOphthalmologistsCornea SpecialistsGeneral Optometrists

Evidence StrengthModerate

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