I’m an optometrist — here’s why it’s dangerous to rub your eyes

This might make you see things differently.

Rubbing your eyes because of drowsiness, stress or even allergies could have detrimental effects, UK optometrist Nimmi Mistry warns.

The habit — often “an automatic response to tired, irritated eyes” — could result in a “whole host of issues,” she told the Mirror in an interview this week.

Your phone, laptop and desk are loaded with germs, including staphylococcus aureus and streptococcus, “which can be transferred to the eye simply via touch and cause potential eye infections such as bacterial conjunctivitis,” Mistry explained.

Not only that, but rubbing can damage your eyes.

“Rubbing your eyes aggressively can cause scratches on the cornea, the outermost part of the eye, making you more susceptible to such infections,” she continued.

Cleveland Clinic warns that rubbing your eyes can move eyelashes so that they scrape the cornea “with each blink,” which could result in a condition called keratoconus, where the cornea becomes cone-shaped instead of rounded.

“When the cornea weakens, it can develop a cone, instead of being a smooth dome. This cone will bend light in the wrong way, and glasses won’t correct the vision,” optometrist Dr. Weston Tuten told Cleveland Clinic, explaining that the condition requires special — and costly — contact lenses.

Symptoms of a damaged cornea include light sensitivity, blurry or reduced vision, inflammation, headaches, eye pain, fatigue and nausea.

But if you can’t resist the touch, Mistry says hand washing is vital.

She also advises using a clean tissue instead.

“Eye hygiene is imperative, so you should also make sure you always wash your hands and refrain from touching your eyes unnecessarily,” she said.