If you could see the world from the standpoint of your eye alone, it might look like the night sky during a meteor shower with a thousand glittering objects of various size and substance flying at you from every conceivable direction and no hands to put up to protect yourself. Instead of shooting stars, though, your eye is staring down a deluge of dust, debris, and diminutive insects like gnats, flies, and mosquitoes.

In such a hostile environment to our very sensitive eyes, evolution has adorned the eye with as clever a defense as possible, the eyelashes.

Eyelashes serve a number of essential functions, not the least of which is protecting your eyes from injury due to dust, debris, insects, and other airborne contaminants. They may not seem so at first flush, but while they are particularly emotive and a charmingly attractive adornment to the eye, these tiny hairs are a wonder of front-line defense.

Eyelashes With Catlike Reflexes

The human eyelash functions in much the same way as a cat’s whiskers alerting your eyes to danger at the slightest touch. If anything, however slight comes into contact with your eyelash, it triggers your eyelid to close immediately to protect your eye.

Your blinking reflex is critical for a number of reasons, but protecting your eye from foreign objects might be foremost among them. As such, the human eye blinks in 0.1 to 0.4 seconds, both when you’re naturally blinking 15 to 20 times per minute, and whenever your eyelashes sound the alarm.

Eyelashes Like Window Blinds

Beyond protecting your eye from airborne assault, your eyelashes also function to reduce airflow and filter sunlight. One of the essential functions of blinking is to moisten the eye.

The tear ducts that provide that moisture provide essential nutrients that maintain your eye health. To keep your eyes from drying out, eyelashes also play a role in reducing airflow that would otherwise dry your eyes faster causing irritation.

Eyelashes aim to keep moisture in and too much air out, but they also prevent too much unwanted moisture from getting in like sweat and rain, and they filter sunlight much like window blinds to protect your eyes from harmful UV rays.

Batting A Thousand – Eyelashes for the Win

However you’re keeping score, eyelashes are always up to bat protecting the eyes from all the little things we otherwise might not be paying close enough attention to.

Trust your eyelashes but also reach out to your eye doctor if you feel your eyes are dry or irritated to the point of discomfort or worse. Protecting your eyes is your eyelashes job, but you can pinch hit when your eyelashes might not by up to the task.