Not talking about the crunchy eye boogers when you wake up but eye string. Since I have Hay Fever I get eye strings every spring and fall. If I pull down my lower eyelid that is where it collects. I get some tissue paper and make a point and scrape it out. Sometimes it wraps all away around my eyeball. Feels good to removing it but man it’s gross. What is it?
They’re protein. Maybe someone better educated in the fine points of eye boogers can describe exactly which protiens they are, and why they form strings instead of blobs (polymerization?). But it’s the same proteins that deposit on contact lenses. The eye produces them in response to irritants, to lubricate them, encapsulate them, and help wash them out.