Blinking is a way of providing moisture to the eye. The average blink rate is ten to twenty times per minute. Blinking is involuntary, not something we consciously do. The blink lasts a fraction of a second; we rarely even realize it’s happening, and it is fast enough that it does not interfere with our vision. We all blink so often that we tend to ignore it altogether; we hardly ever notice blinking in other people.
Blinking is different from batting one’s eyes. Batting is opening and closing the eyes several times in rapid succession, usually deliberately. During a blink, the upper eyelid comes down over the eyeball and creates suction across the eye to prevent it from drying out. Moisture, provided by tear glands through tiny ducts, flows over the surface of the eye. The eyelids have about twenty-five oil-producing glands, located between our eyelashes and not visible to the human eye, and this oil mixes with the water from the tear glands. So blinking provides water and oils for the eye, similar to a farmer irrigating crops. Blinking also affords protection for our eyes. Blinking shields the eye from dust and debris, and our eyelids function as windshield wipers when a particle does come in contact with the eye. But the first line of defence is eyelashes. Those curved hairs are dust catchers that prevent dust in the air from hitting our eyeball.
Answers
Varad Konde
Blinking is a way of providing moisture to the eye. The average blink rate is ten to twenty times per minute. Blinking is involuntary, not something we consciously do. The blink lasts a fraction of a second; we rarely even realize it’s happening, and it is fast enough that it does not interfere with our vision. We all blink so often that we tend to ignore it altogether; we hardly ever notice blinking in other people.
Blinking is different from batting one’s eyes. Batting is opening and closing the eyes several times in rapid succession, usually deliberately. During a blink, the upper eyelid comes down over the eyeball and creates suction across the eye to prevent it from drying out. Moisture, provided by tear glands through tiny ducts, flows over the surface of the eye. The eyelids have about twenty-five oil-producing glands, located between our eyelashes and not visible to the human eye, and this oil mixes with the water from the tear glands. So blinking provides water and oils for the eye, similar to a farmer irrigating crops. Blinking also affords protection for our eyes. Blinking shields the eye from dust and debris, and our eyelids function as windshield wipers when a particle does come in contact with the eye. But the first line of defence is eyelashes. Those curved hairs are dust catchers that prevent dust in the air from hitting our eyeball.