I just woke up about twenty minutes ago and for the first time in forever, had to wipe sleep from my eyes. Just what is that crap and what purpose does it serve?
It keeps yours eyes nice and wet and moist and clean.
If you have allergies, it can make your eyes more gunky.
“yours eyes nice and wet and moist and clean and…”
I ain’t proud of that sentence. Nope, I ain’t none bit.
So it’s similar to mucuous, like I thought. Wasn’t sure though… thanks.
Okay, so what is it, exactly? Where’s it produced? Why did I have so much of it in my eyes when I don’t have any allergies?
You may have an eye infection. If it gets worse, or lasts more than a couple days, I’d have it checked out. My mom let a nasty case of pink eye go for so long the DOCTOR freaked out. She could have lost her sight!
Once while cycling a had a small insect fly into my eye. The next morning I woke up with so much gunk in my eye I couldn’t open it. I don’t know if it was just a large amount of the usual gunk, or some special-purpose immuno-gunk.
Be careful, that gunky eye stuff can get ya killed…
“It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain, but, once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture – a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever.”
Edgar Allen Poe
An untreated cataract produces a kind of film over the eye. I think that’s what Poe was referring to in “The Telltale Heart.”
This thread, OTOH, is about what I usually crudely refer to as “eye boogers.”
Not a doctor, but I worked for a contact lens manufacturer for five years, so I have some basic ocular health info:
Tears are to keep your eyes lubricated - dry eyes are very uncomfortable. You get “eye boogers” when protein or lipids in the tears collect in the corners of your eyes while you sleep. Protein secreters get the hard, crusty ones; lipid secreters tend to get more of the gooey kind. This is why if you have non-disposable contact lenses, you have to use enzyme tablets or liquid to remove the protein deposits on a regular basis. You just have to really clean them well to remove the lipid deposits, but they can still build up quite a bit over a period of time.
There’s several reasons why this may have happened when it normally doesn’t. It may have been dry in your room, or you may have been exposed to dust or another irritant, either of which would cause more tearing than normal. However, if it was so bad you had trouble opening your eyes, if it’s itchy, or if you have redness in your eyes for more than a day (one day might just be the result of a household irritant), you should see a doctor. If you wear contacts, don’t wear them until this clears up. If you have conjunctivitis, you’ll keep reinfecting yourself. For the same reason, if it’s predominantly in one eye, do NOT rub both eyes with the same hand, and wash your hands frequently if you do rub your eyes. (Which you shouldn’t anyway, but it’s a reflex.) Another thing, if you wear contacts, inspect them for any rips, defects, or protein buildup, because they may be the cause of the irritation. And even if you don’t have conjunctivitis and your contacts look ok, if your eyes are more irritated with them in, still don’t wear them until it clears up. (Common sense, but experience generally tells me to err on the side of giving too much information rather than not enough.)
Note that it’s not uncommon for adults to suddenly develop seasonal allergies, so just because you don’t have a history, you shouldn’t discount the possibility if you rule out all the other likely causes. People who aren’t normally sensitive can have reactions if conditions are bad enough (f’rinstance mildew in the Northeast because of all the rain this spring) even if they don’t actually develop an allergy, too.