# If my eyes got knocked out of their sockets, **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 14, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803 "2008-10-14T00:22:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/21 "2008-10-14T17:53:18Z")
Pepper Mill’s eye was deliberately pulled out (slightly) from the socket when they did some surgery on her a long time back. They didn’t detach anything, and her eyes work fine. (The retina is inside the eyeball, which is protected by a tough sclera. There’s no reason that removing the eyeball from the socket itself should damage the retina at all.) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/22 "2008-10-14T17:57:58Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > exuberant restraint My girlfriend is into that. ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/23 "2008-10-14T18:07:32Z")
How far can the optic nerve (or any nerve) stretch before its axons are damaged? ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/24 "2008-10-14T18:29:16Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > My girlfriend is into that. Yep, that’s what she told me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/25 "2008-10-14T20:33:31Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, but only after the eye was put back in. An eye out of it’s socket sees nothing, except perhaps some light. So the eye and the connecting nerves by themselves can’t focus the eye? I always assumed the surrounding muscles only controlled eye movement within the socket. ---
**Author:** ![justrob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@justrob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justrob)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/26 "2008-10-14T20:42:29Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > Okay, what’s that from? I seem to remember Joe Flaherty saying that. One Crazy Summer ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/27 "2008-10-14T23:14:05Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > And other reasons, but yes. What other reasons? ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/28 "2008-10-15T08:41:23Z")
\ Could this be due to the synchronization between vision and eye movement? (Can’t think of the term for it right now, but a moving image on the retina isn’t the only stimulus that causes you to perceive movement–the brain also takes into account whether the eye muscles are making corresponding motions, so when you glance around the room quickly, you don’t “see” the room jerking up and down and left and right, and you perceive it as stationary.) Anyway, if the movement of the dangling eye isn’t synchronized with the voluntary and involuntary eye motions your good eye and your socket are making, you might see the whole world jerking and bouncing around in a spectacularly sickening fashion. \ I, too, would appreciate any more real answers to this question. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/29 "2008-10-15T08:54:57Z")
Sorry, I didn’t mean to phrase my post above so abruptly - This is not me calling ‘Cite?’ - it’s just that this thread would be the perfect place for those other reasons to be described. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/30 "2008-10-15T08:57:05Z")
This is the strangest GQ thread I have seen in a while. What’s up with all the cryptic half answers? Cartoonish as it is, the OP is a very simple question. How much slack is in the wires that connect your eyes to your body? The Cecil article referenced in the link provided lists several incidents of eyes popping out, so there should be an answer to this. When your eye pops out, how far down your face does it hang? ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/31 "2008-10-15T12:55:03Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > How much slack is in the wires that connect your eyes to your body? “Hang” is misleading. The upper and lower lid get behind the globe. There is no “slack” in the optic nerve, it is more of a stretching of tissue with some (slight) elasticity. [Canine version. (possibly TMI if you are eating)](http://www.petplace.com/thumbnail.aspx?pn=146468115.jpg&iw=90) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/32 "2008-10-15T16:10:02Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > What other reasons? Shock, pain, damage to the retina or optic nerve. OK, if you are moderately lucky you can see again if you eye is knocked out and put back in. However during the time your eye is out of the socket, you can effectively see nothing. ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/33 "2008-10-15T16:30:13Z")
A small threadjack: People with Strabismus, why can’t a doctor in a controlled environment take the eye out and straighten it? ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/34 "2008-10-15T16:55:06Z")
:smack: Duh. While I was wild-assed guessing, I could have tried putting a little bit of pressure on my eyeball. Turns out that there’s total grey-out. Pop out an eye, and the pressure on the back of the orb is going to be nasty. (I mourn the impossibility of the dangling eyeball scenario, though. It would be kinda cool.) ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/35 "2008-10-16T17:40:00Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > “Hang” is misleading. The upper and lower lid get behind the globe. There is no “slack” in the optic nerve, it is more of a stretching of tissue with some (slight) elasticity. > > [Canine version. (possibly TMI if you are eating)](http://www.petplace.com/thumbnail.aspx?pn=146468115.jpg&iw=90) Are you saying this is the same for humans? > [@DrDeth](#): > > Shock, pain, damage to the retina or optic nerve. > > OK, if you are moderately lucky you can see again if you eye is knocked out and put back in. > > However during the time your eye is out of the socket, you can effectively see nothing. But if I have no shock, pain, or damage to my retina or optic nerve, what is preventing me from seeing? Do the muscles in my eyes exert some kind of pressure on my eyeball that is necessary for sight? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/36 "2008-10-16T17:50:00Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > But if I have no shock, pain, or damage to my retina or optic nerve, what is preventing me from seeing? Do the muscles in my eyes exert some kind of pressure on my eyeball that is necessary for sight? For focused sight, certainly. Like I said, you should be able to see light. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/37 "2008-10-16T18:20:56Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > For focused sight, certainly. Like I said, you should be able to see light. Do you have a cite for this information? ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/38 "2008-10-16T18:22:58Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > I read an article years back about a 1930’s race car driver whose eye popped out in a crash. A doctor lifted the hanging but unharmed eye back into it’s socket using a spoon. IIRC, the driver retained his vision. If it’s the same race driver I’m thinking of, it was [Captain Eddie Rickenbacker](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Rickenbacker), who was a race car driver from 1909 - 1917. He then became a fighter pilot in WWI (ending the war as American Ace of Aces), built a car called the Rickenbacker, owned and operated the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, worked for General Motors, then became president of Eastern Airlines. His incident happened on February 27, 1941. [From here:](http://www.homeofheroes.com/wings/part1/8_newwar.html) > [@](#): > > The big DC-3 sleeper carried sixteen people including the crew as it made a 180 turn, the pilot unaware that he was 1,000 feet too low. Suddenly the left wing clipped the tops of the trees and Captain Perry quickly tried to adjust, the right wing dropping and then sheering (sic) off as it too hit the trees. The airplane nosed up, then hit the ground and began a series of violent somersaults before breaking in half, killing five instantly and seriously injuring nine more. Eddie Rickenbacker, the legendary hero of World War I was among the latter, laying amid the wreckage at the point where the fuselage had broken in two…It had taken rescue workers an hour to pry his shattered body from the wreckage, two photographers capturing the grisly scene for their newspapers. \*\*Despite his left eye, hanging loose from the socket and connected only by the nerves, \*\*Rickenbacker was blinded by the flash of their bulbs. His autobiography, published in 1967, is wonderful reading, if you can still find it. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/39 "2008-10-16T18:33:07Z")
**Cecil** already did this one, gang: [You’ll put your eye out: Can the human eyeball be knocked out of the head? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2592/youll-put-your-eye-out) As you’ll note, it defines two types of global dislocation: The luxation, where it has popped out far enough for the eyelids to close behind it instead of in front of it. This has a better prognosis, as the retinal vein and artery is less likely to be torn, along with the optic nerve. The avulsion, where the globe has been forced out far enough to significantly damage the artery, vein, nerve, and other supporting structures. Return to useful function is less likely here. Retinal detachment is not inevitable, nor is it even all that likely in the lesser luxation. And as long as the optic nerve is functioning, and the retina is intact, the eye will continue to transmit signals to the brain. However, the image transmitted with be from a non-usual vantage point, the tracking muscles of the eyes (and most likely the accomodation muscles of the lens) will not function so well due to traumatic swelling. Even so, in many cases, the luxated eye should be able to transmit more than just light and dark. Colors should still be visible, and basic shapes still distinguished. However, it’s not an area where a lot of testing has been done. Most study subjects with global dislocations are in no mood to take visual acuity tests. The few that I’ve seen weren’t interested in answering too many questions at all. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803/40 "2008-10-16T18:39:08Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Do you have a cite for this information? Do you have a cite that normal vision would continue?:dubious: I concede that as the knowledgeable Qadgop the Mercotan has said that \*“Even so, in many cases, the luxated eye should be able to transmit more than just light and dark. Colors should still be visible, and basic shapes still distinguished. \*” but there’s a large difference between a eye just barely out of the socket and one hanging well out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-my-eyes-got-knocked-out-of-their-sockets/467803.md?page=3)