Many people sleep with their eyes open. Most of them are children, but there are also adults who keep their eyes half-open at bedtime.
It’s not a very common problem, but you’ve probably met someone in your life who slept with their eyes open, and it can be impressive, even a little scary!
The technical name for this is “nocturnal lagophthalmos” or “Lagophthalmia”. The name comes from the Greek word “lagoos,” which means hare. In the past, it was thought that hares slept with their eyes open to always be attentive.
When we sleep, our eyes close so that tears can coat the cornea and thus keep it clean and moist. If this does not happen, the eye is exposed to external factors that can cause more serious problems.
Continuously sleeping with your eyes open can lead to some damage to the eye. It can cause dry eyes, which can become painful and lead to eye infections.
The causes of this problem can be many, in fact doctors consider this problem a symptom, and not a disease in itself.
This may be because the nerves that are responsible for opening and closing the eyes have a problem. Some skin diseases or infections can also cause lagophthalmia.
It is usually a symptom of an infection, trauma, facial paralysis, skin disease, thyroid problem or loss of tone of the facial muscles. There have been cases in which the problem was due to poorly performed cosmetic surgery.
The person who sleeps with the eyelid open does not realize it until someone tells him. When this happens, it is advisable to go to the doctor to prescribe artificial tears or ointments to keep the eye moist despite not closing it.
