When you think about it for second, eyelashes and eyebrows seem to be a little strange. Why would we have hair around our eyes, which sometimes ends up in our eyes? As odd as they might seem, there is actually a few good reasons why eyelashes and eyebrows are nature’s way of keeping your eyes safe.
Keep out!
Eyelashes are your body’s natural defense against foreign objects reaching your eyes. When your eyes are open, eyelashes prevent bad moisture, like sweat, rain, or harmful chemicals, from reaching your eye. If your eyes are closed, eyelashes interlock and curve to keep objects from falling into your eyes. That’s why you automatically blink when something comes closer to your eye – it’s your natural instinct to us your eyelashes as protection.
Prevent dry eye
Dry eye is rapidly becoming a common problem, but your eyelashes are nature’s ways of keeping your eyes moist. While they keep harmful moisture away from your eye, eyelashes also keep good moisture in. Eyelashes protect your eyes from airflow, which causes evaporation of your natural tears.
Sunglasses before sunglasses
We all know too much sunlight is harmful for your eyes, which is why you squint on a sunny, summer day. It’s your natural instinct to use your eyelashes and eyebrows to reduce the amount of sunlight hitting your eye. So eyelashes and eyebrows are the original sunglasses!
Length is key
According to the LA Times, researchers found out that eyelashes were 1/3 the width of the eye – across all mammals. Using simulations, they found that eyelashes at 1/3 the width of they eye is the optimum length to protect the eye from evaporation without creating evaporation itself. How about that little tidbit for trivia night!
Want more eye health info? Read more from the Metro Eye blog.
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