why

Can one sleep with eyes open?

Is there anyone in this world who sleeps with eyes open?

The first thing to be clear is that normal people have their eyes closed when they sleep under normal circumstances. When we observe whether a person is asleep or not, the main thing is to look at the eyes. Under normal circumstances, the brain can relax and enter the sleep stage by closing the eyes. Of course, there are also people who do not close their eyes when sleeping. Those who sleep with their eyes open do not intentionally fail to close their eyes, but that their eyes cannot be completely closed. This condition is commonly known as “housekeeping eyes” and is a disease, not the normal state of the eyes.

The closing and opening functions of the eyes are controlled by the extraocular muscles and expression muscles. The opening of the eyes is generally accomplished by lifting the upper eyelid muscle and the orbicularis oculi muscle. When the human body enters or intends to enter a dormant state, the innervation of the nerves on the muscles begins to weaken and relax, resulting in low orbicularis oculi muscle tension, insufficient lifting power of the upper eyelid muscles, and closed eyes. If a person’s upper eyelid muscle and orbicularis oculi muscle are not fully developed, then the eyes cannot be completely closed and sleep with eyes open.

The semi-closed and semi-closed state mostly occurs in the infant period of humans. During this period, the nervous system of some infants is not fully developed and many movements are not coordinated. Another situation is the light sleep state. The human sleep state is divided into light sleep and deep sleep. Many times, for example, people say squinting and taking a nap. At this time, most people are half asleep and half awake, seeming to be asleep but not asleep. In this case, the eyes are not completely closed and it is normal. If someone enters deep sleep or half-opens their eyes, this is not a normal state. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, it is explained that this phenomenon is caused by the deficiency of the spleen. In addition, some diseases can also cause the eyes to not completely close, such as facial nerve problems or eye inflammation.

Therefore, if the eyes cannot be closed during sleep, go to the hospital for examination as soon as possible to find out the cause and treat in time to ensure that the body returns to normal.

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