It’s a phrase that almost everyone has heard: “Stop squinting, you can get stuck!”. So myth or reality? Here is the response from Dr. Gérald Kierzek, emergency physician and medical director of TipsForWomens.
If you had fun squinting on purpose as a child, your parents or loved ones may have warned you against this practice, believing that it could become fixed by blocking your eyes in this position.
Can you really get stuck squinting?
In fact, this sentence is more of a frightening warning, which we tell children so that they don’t do something again, rather than a reality.
Indeed, according to Dr. Gérald Kierzek, emergency physician and medical director of TipsForWomens, “If a person squints involuntarily, it is strabismus. On the other hand, when you intentionally squint, it is not possible to block your eyes“.
Indeed, he adds, “the oculomotor muscles, which direct our eyes in different directions, put our eyes back on axis, spontaneously, once released“.
What can block the eyes in this position?
On the other hand, warns the doctor, “having a fracture of the orbital floor or orbit can trap the muscle, which will be incarcerated in the wound, which will have the effect of keeping the eye blocked in one direction.
Another possibility: in the event of paralysis of these same muscles, for example. “This is why when we examine a patient, we ask them to follow our finger.” adds the doctor. “It’s a way to check your eye motor skills.” he concludes.