“Close your eyes and sleep” is a phrase almost all of us have heard in our childhood. That is how we are supposed to sleep. Or at least we are told to. But have you ever wondered why we need to close our eyes to sleep? This is what we are going to explore today in the article.
One of the reasons is to keep the eyes protected and hydrated. Other reasons are highlighted later in the article. So, read through it to discover why we must close our eyes while sleeping.
Further, if you want guidance on sleep-related matters, then you must head to https://sleephealthier.com/. Here you will find a wide range of informative articles that provide you guidance on different sleep-related topics.
Reasons For Closing Our Eyes While Sleeping
Giving Eye Lid Muscles Rest
The muscles controlling the eyelids are delicate and thin. They never appear to get tired, allowing you to view the world as it is. When you are sleeping, these muscles are in a state of rest. As a result, they get some rest during the night while you are sleeping.
Keeping Eyes Hydrated And Protected
The eyes are a very delicate organ of the body and need to be protected from any particle entering them. If anything enters into the eyes, it might irritate and even leave you in pain.
Further, your eyes need to stay hydrated to function well. The blinking keeps the eye-balls hydrated and eyes moist. It ensures that no dust particles and pathogens make their way into the eyes.
If you keep your eyes open while sleeping, it will allow harmful particles to enter and even dry up your eye. Subsequently, it will increase the chances of causing severe harm to your eyes.
Therefore, the human body functions in a way that keeps your eyes safe from any harm and makes you close your eyes while sleeping.
Prevent External Stimuli From Keeping Us Awake
An external stimulus alerts your body about the surroundings. Whatever you see deeply affects your brains.
Your eyes constantly take in the information surrounding you, even if you are not paying heed to anything at the moment. Your mind is continuously processing the information and controlling your body’s functions.
The brain regulates your body’s internal clock, which is known as the circadian rhythm. It signals your body when you need to sleep or wake up. It is highly sensitive to external stimuli, especially how bright the lights are in your surroundings.
Your brain will tell you to get active and work if your surroundings are bright. On the other hand, it will tell you to take some rest and sleep if it is dark. So, closing your eyes will allow you to have a good night’s sleep irrespective of the external stimuli.
Why Do Some People Sleep With Their Eyes Open?
Some people sleep with their eyes partly or fully open. Doing so might be detrimental for a person, causing illness that might impair one’s vision. Sleeping with eyes open may indicate an underlying medical condition requiring one’s attention.
You must seek medical assistance immediately if you notice yourself unable to completely close your eyes when sleeping. While this issue might be genetic for some, it may occur due to infections like Lymes, surgery on facial tissues, or any other condition in others.
Wondering how to know whether you are closing your eyes completely? It is simple. If your eyes are extremely dry when you wake up or you experience blurry vision, it indicates that you are not closing your eyelids completely.
Upon noticing any such symptom, seek medical guidance immediately and resolve the issue.
Some medical conditions listed below might cause you to open the eyes during sleep.
- Stroke
- An injury or trauma
- Tumor
- Infections like mumps, leprosy, polio, Lymes, etc.
- Surgery on facial muscles
- Large upper or lower eyelids
Bottom Line
To sum up, closing your eyes while you sleep is a natural phenomenon and is how they are designed to function. Every organ of the body has its function to perform. The eyes being one of the most important organs of the human body, need protection and care.
It holds great significance to prevent particles and pathogens from entering into the eyes during night’s sleep. Also, closing eyes prevents external stimuli such as light from distracting the brain and take some rest. Therefore, closing our eyes when we sleep allows our mind and body to function well.
