Why do we blink our eyes?

A common phenomenon in all of us along with most of the living beings is to blink our eyes. Though this lasts for 10th part of a second, we blink our eyes at least once for every 4 seconds to keep them wet. There get some cleaning and lubrication done when we blink our eyes. The more our eyes get strained, the more our eyes blink.

The Fact Folio

A person blinks 15 times a minute. Blinking will generally be rapid when some dust particles enter the eye or when we are under some stress or anxiety. But this gets slower than normal when one is in deep concentration.

Blinking is an involuntary muscular activity where the mucous secretions such as the tear layer that clears the eye, collect the dust to the duct where the fluid leaves the eye. This is mostly observed by us when we wake up from a good sleep or when we observe our eyes after a journey through heavy traffic.

The Key Reason

Our Eyes need blinking to keep them moist. This will lubricate the eyes and keep them away from drying, thus protecting the eyes. While we stare at a computer or a cell phone screen, we usually get so much involved that we blink our eye for just 7 times per minute, whereas it should be 14-15 times per minute. This is why most of us suffer dry eyes and are asked to use lubricating eye-drops.