We’ve all heard an old wives tale or two about the crazy things that can happen to your eyes if you sit too close to the TV, or keep your eyes crossed for too long. But, is there any actual truth to these? We decided to take some of our favorite, along with some of the silliest, eye myths (and truths) and bust them! With the help of our doctors at Clarke EyeCare Center, take a look at what we learned.

Myth: Eye color can change over time.

Truth: While it is possible for a babies eye color to change in the first year of life, it is uncommon for an adults eye’s to change unless they have an eye disease or are taking certain medications. There are several ocular diseases that can cause the iris to change color, and even some medications that can darken the iris.

People often feel their eyes change color due to alteration in their emotions or attire, but they only appear to change due to the contrast of reddened eyes, excessive tears, or the color shirt they may be wearing that day.

Myth: You don’t HAVE to wear sunglasses after your eyes have been dilated..

Truth: Well, then it’s going to be very bright out! The reason doctors recommend sunglasses after a dilated examination is due to a concern of functionality. When your eyes are not dilated the pupils will shrink according to the amount of light present. This helps prevent glare from entering your eye, which can negatively affect vision and cause discomfort from excessive light scatter within the eye. The dilation drops paralyze the muscles that shrink the pupil and freeze it in a state of dilation so in order to prevent discomfort and promote better functionality it is recommended to wear dark sunglasses.

Myth: You determine how often you blink your eyes.

Truth: Blinking is a natural reflex. It occurs to protect the surface of the eye and to redistribute tears across the surface before washing away debris. This also helps prevent your eyes from drying out and is an automatic process. If you are staring at a computer or daydreaming you may not blink as often, but as soon as your eyes feel dry or experience discomfort they will automatically blink for you. Therefore, blinking is not a conscious decision because it is an automated process your body does for you.

You can’t forcefully keep yourself from blinking for an extended period of time either, because your eyes will begin to dry out and your corneal nerves will scream for you eyes to blink. It’s almost like a built in override keeping you from damaging your eyes.

Myth: You can sneeze with your eyes open.

Truth: Sneezing, also known as sternutation can be due to a few things, but when it is caused by irritation inside the nose it activates a large network of nerves in the face. This large network, called the trigeminal nerve, is divided into three separate branches. These branches slightly overlap one another; so when the nerve branch connected to your sneeze is stimulated there is some ‘cross-talk’ with another branch that is connected to the muscles around the eye. When you sneeze those muscles are indirectly activated to flex, and when they do the eyes are squeezed shut. Whether or not you can sneeze with your eyes open isn’t really up to you.

In addition, we wanted to shed some light on some of the other common eye-related questions we get here at Clarke.

One of the most common misconceptions that we get from patients is concerning whether or not they will develop a dependence on wearing their glasses or contacts. The eye is built a certain way that focuses the picture you see at a specific point. A person without the need for any correction has that point fall right on the macula. The macula is the area on the retina you use for sharp clear vision and detail, as well as, color vision. When the eye is too powerful it focuses the picture in front the macula and this is called nearsightedness or myopia. There is nothing the body or eye can do to compensate for the blur that is created when the picture doesn’t focus right where it needs to at the macula.

So, optometrists use minus powered lenses to push that picture back to where it needs to be to give you that crystal clear vision. Without your glasses or contacts the picture would continue to be blurry. The eye does not adapt to you wearing the glasses as much as your brain adapts to seeing things how they are supposed to look and you subsequently want to wear the glasses. The same applies for people that are farsighted or hyperopic. The picture focuses behind the macula and the optometrist will use plus lenses to make the picture focus where it needs to on the macula. However, if you have enough focusing power your eye can flex to focus and put the picture where it needs to be, but this leads to eyestrain.

The ocular system is not meant to be engaged in focusing all day so this can often lead to tired eyes and even headaches. Eyeglasses for these individuals are meant to help relax those muscles and alleviate any eyestrain or headache issues.

As always, don’t hesitate to bring all of your questions to our experts at Clarke EyeCare Center!