If you're not supposed to touch your eyes, are we supposed to just leave the little sleep boogies there?

Shower water pretty much does this for me (no touching and no sleep remnants).

Each morning, i gently rub both eyes. eye doctor advised not to do this, but pressure builds in behind both eyes and rubbing eliminates this. i have done this all my life, without any serious side effects.

Now, the eye boogies are a different story.

My sleep sand stays on the edges around my eyes, not on my actual eye, so I don’t have a problem with that.

I don’t rub my eyes regularly. I don’t have stuff in my eyes when I wake; my kids did when they were young and I had them use a warm washcloth to remove it in the mornings.

Not that this has to do with anything, but when I was a kid I used to get that so bad it would glue my eyelids shut. There were a couple of times when I woke up my dad in a panic because I couldn’t see. He just washed my eyes with a warm washcloth and it was all good again.

I touch my eyes all the time for I’m an eye-touchin’ rebel!
The other option—letiing them grow to the size of a bowling ball is very unattractive and a real pain in the neck.;)

You’re not supposed to touch your eyes? Dang. I like a good eye rub and I don’t think knowing I’m not supposed to will stop me. I am conscious of where my hands have been, though (thanks, OCD!), so I take care not to touch if I feel there’s a risk of infection or chemicals on my hands. I will say, I’ve been doing it all my life and nothing bad’s ever happened.

I just rub em. Like @MissAnthrope

Why would we not be supposed to touch our eyes? Says who, and for what reasons?

@Fyrius: Germs on the hands, for one reason. Also the skin around your eyes is very delicate, and doing things like rubbing the sleepy boogies away causes wrinkles and such.

If you’re too rough you can scratch your cornea.

@mrentropy And you’re also apparently “not supposed to” pick your nose. Or clean your ears with a cotton swab. Rules like those are for people who will just jam it through their eardrum.

Oh my gosh. I touch my eyes all the time…. I rub them, wipe my eye boogies, and stick my finger right in my eye if I feel the need to. (Then again I’ve worn contact lenses for 16 years, so I’m pretty comfortable with touching my own eyeball.) I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to do any of that.

I’m constantly touching my eyes (allergies, ugh). I guess you shouldn’t be getting bacteria in them from your fingers, but who needs to live in a germ free world!?

I shouldn’t have subscribed to this question.. it’s like the “do not push” button. Every time I open this question I feel a strong urge to rub my eyes. :)

@TheOnlyNeffie: I know! My eyes felt all tingly and itchy and fuzzy after I opened it again lol

Ive recently found out i have this condition with my eyelash glands called blepharitis. it means I am prone to getting very dry itchy eyes, styes and meibomian cysts. I recently had to have a v small op to remove a blocked eyelash thing and had some eye cream for a few days. now I have to do this thing twice a day every day for 4 months where I boil some water and let it cool so it isnt scalding hot. put cotton woll dipped in the hot water and place over both eyes, keep re-dipping in the hot water to keep the heat on my eyes. do this for 5 mins.
then i have to massage my eyelids to like work all the gunk stuff into the corner of my eyes, then i have to wash out my eyes with ½ cup warm water mixed with a few drops (2–3) of no more tears baby shampoo.
It stings a little doing the shampoo bit but it makes ure eyes feel really nice once the stinging has gone which it does go pretty quickly and I would reccommend doing it if you get really dry itchy eyes everyso often as it washes them out and refreshes them.
Thats alot of touching your eyes if you ask me. and I was told to do that by the hospital.
The only thing is to wash your hands with antibacterial soap before and after touching your eyes to prevent any infection.