Don't Cross Your Eyes...They'll Get Stuck That Way!: And 75 Other Health Myths Debunked by Aaron E. Carroll Page B
Authors: Aaron E. Carroll
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energy. If the muscle fibers are used for energy (by breaking them down through a process called catabolism into the body’s sugar source of glucose), and if this happens to such an extent that there is extra sugar left over that the body does not need, then the body will store that sugar as fat. This is pretty rare, as it requires you to need to use parts of your body as an energy source in the place of having food, and yet you need to do this to an extent where you have some leftover to store as fat. The scenario where you let your muscles get small and wasted (from not exercising them) while your fat cells store up more fat (because you are eating more calories than you burn up) is much more common. Interestingly enough, the number of fat cells in your body remains almost constant throughout your life. Some of the fat cells die, and others replace them, but you do not grow brand-new fat cells when you get fat. Instead, your fat cells get bigger and bigger as they store more and more fat.
Eyes
Don’t cross your eyes … they’ll get stuck that way!
You probably remember hearing this one from your mother. When you used to torment your younger sister with gruesome faces, your mother would catch a glimpse of your crossed eyes and scold you, “Don’t cross your eyes! They’ll get stuck that way!”
This is a case where your mother was just plain wrong (or she was lying to you). There is absolutely no medical or scientific evidence that crossing your eyes will make your eyes stay crossed. Experts in ophthalmology conclude that crossing your eyes voluntarily is absolutely not going to hurt them permanently.
Even though your mother was wrong about the dangers of your silly faces, eye-crossing can be a problem for other reasons. If someone has crossed eyes without trying to cross them, this is a medical condition that merits further investigation. Two to 4 percent of the population has strabismus, in which one or both eyes are not aligned properly and may look crossed. However, you do not develop strabismus as a result of crossing your eyes too often or for too long. Most of the time, babies are born with it. When strabismus or this improper alignment develops later in life, it is usually caused by serious infections or problems in the head such as certain types of brain tumors. If you notice that your child’s eyes seem to be crossed or aligned abnormally, you should definitely talk to your doctor about your concerns, but the child’s penchant for making silly faces should not be blamed.
The eye is a very complex thing. Eye movements are controlled by three pairs of muscles that work in concert. One muscle in the pair relaxes and one muscle contracts in order to move the eye in a particular way. Crossing the eyes, or bringing both eyes closer to the nose, is actually the normal movement of the eyes when you are focusing on something very close to your face. When you cross your eyes, you are just mimicking or exaggerating that natural movement. When there are problems in how the eye is moving, doctors need to evaluate which of the muscles in a pair are having difficulty.
We’re not saying that crossing your eyes for a long time is the best thing for the muscles of your eyes. It can cause strain in these muscles, which may result in a temporary pain or even in some eye spasms and blurring of your vision. Thankfully, these effects are temporary; when you stop crossing your eyes, the muscles have a chance to rest and the pain or spasms should subside. Your eyes will not be stuck in the crossed position. In the same way, if you use the muscles in your arm to curl a heavy weight, your biceps might feel tired, sore, and even somewhat crampy, but your arm will not be stuck in the curled position. The muscles just need a break to return to feeling normal.
Rubbing your eyes is bad for you—TRUE
With the exception of busting the myth on reading in the dark, no myth was going to be as satisfying to throw in our mothers’
Eyes
Don’t cross your eyes … they’ll get stuck that way!
You probably remember hearing this one from your mother. When you used to torment your younger sister with gruesome faces, your mother would catch a glimpse of your crossed eyes and scold you, “Don’t cross your eyes! They’ll get stuck that way!”
This is a case where your mother was just plain wrong (or she was lying to you). There is absolutely no medical or scientific evidence that crossing your eyes will make your eyes stay crossed. Experts in ophthalmology conclude that crossing your eyes voluntarily is absolutely not going to hurt them permanently.
Even though your mother was wrong about the dangers of your silly faces, eye-crossing can be a problem for other reasons. If someone has crossed eyes without trying to cross them, this is a medical condition that merits further investigation. Two to 4 percent of the population has strabismus, in which one or both eyes are not aligned properly and may look crossed. However, you do not develop strabismus as a result of crossing your eyes too often or for too long. Most of the time, babies are born with it. When strabismus or this improper alignment develops later in life, it is usually caused by serious infections or problems in the head such as certain types of brain tumors. If you notice that your child’s eyes seem to be crossed or aligned abnormally, you should definitely talk to your doctor about your concerns, but the child’s penchant for making silly faces should not be blamed.
The eye is a very complex thing. Eye movements are controlled by three pairs of muscles that work in concert. One muscle in the pair relaxes and one muscle contracts in order to move the eye in a particular way. Crossing the eyes, or bringing both eyes closer to the nose, is actually the normal movement of the eyes when you are focusing on something very close to your face. When you cross your eyes, you are just mimicking or exaggerating that natural movement. When there are problems in how the eye is moving, doctors need to evaluate which of the muscles in a pair are having difficulty.
We’re not saying that crossing your eyes for a long time is the best thing for the muscles of your eyes. It can cause strain in these muscles, which may result in a temporary pain or even in some eye spasms and blurring of your vision. Thankfully, these effects are temporary; when you stop crossing your eyes, the muscles have a chance to rest and the pain or spasms should subside. Your eyes will not be stuck in the crossed position. In the same way, if you use the muscles in your arm to curl a heavy weight, your biceps might feel tired, sore, and even somewhat crampy, but your arm will not be stuck in the curled position. The muscles just need a break to return to feeling normal.
Rubbing your eyes is bad for you—TRUE
With the exception of busting the myth on reading in the dark, no myth was going to be as satisfying to throw in our mothers’
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