why do we blink? and how often is normal?

Answer 1

The eye is the only soft tissue that is virtually always exposed to air. This means that all the smog, germs, dust, and other nasties that you can't see are constantly barraging it.

By blinking, you are cleaning and lubricating the tissue of the eye. Since it's soft tissue (vs hard tissue like skin, which holds it's own moisture), you are ensuring the continued function of the tissue itself.

On average, the normal adult human blinks anywhere from 4 to 12 times per minute.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

From a strictly functional perspective, blinking is a way to keep the eyes clean and moist. When the eyelids close over the eyes (as they do each of the ten to fifteen times every minute that the average adult blinks), they coat the eyeballs with three different types of fluid:
tears released by the tear glands in the eyes
lubricating oil produced by sebaceous glands found between each eye lash that keeps tears from evaporating too quickly
mucus that further lubricates the eyes and helps tears adhere to the surface of the eyeballs
These three fluids also help flush out any dirt or other foreign objects that might sneak past the eyelashes. Blinking can also serve as a proactive way of keeping things from entering the eye in the first place, by lowering the eyelids and lashes for protection — this is why people blink when something startles them or moves quickly towards their faces.

Answer 3

Wow, no offense buddy, but is your mom off her meds? 1. I've never counted how many times i blink per minute, but the fact that she did tells me shes paying waaaay too much attention to you. Yes you are normal. 2. Yes its normal to feel bad when people embarrass us in public places. Its probably even worse that it was your mother. No you do not have an illness. 3. Yes I believe she is attacking you. Not because you're blinking, but because you are gay. It seems to me that this has been building up inside her. Sadly it came out at the worse possible time and place. Blinking is an involuntary movement. It is vary rare that someone would blink voluntarily. Hope I answered your question. ;)

Answer 4

How Often Do You Blink

Answer 5

I don't think that blinking is really something we could do without. It's probably all to do with the chemistry of the eye and the atmosphere around it. For example in a dry environment there will be lots more blinking because the eye dries out. When there's a lot of tear gas around the best thing to do is probably to close and cover them altogether. When one is peeling/chopping onions then the best thing one can do is cry it out and finish work asap.

Answer 6

Blinking and how often we do it.


For other uses, see Blink (disambiguation).
Blinking is the rapid closing and opening of the eyelid. It is an essential function of the eye that helps spread tears across and remove irritants from the surface of the cornea and conjunctiva. On average, a blink takes approximately 300 to 400 milliseconds. Blink speed can be affected by elements such as fatigue, eye injury, medication, and disease. A person approximately blinks once every two to ten seconds. The blinking rate is determined by the “blinking center”, but it can also be effected by external stimulus. When an animal (usually human) chooses to blink only one eye as a signal to another in a social setting (a form of body language), it is known as winking. However, some animals (for example, tortoises and hamsters) blink their eyes independently of each other.

Contents [hide]
1 Function and anatomy of blinking
2 Blinking by categories of people
3 References
4 See also



[edit] Function and anatomy of blinking
Blinking provides moisture to the eye by irrigation using tears and a lubricant the eye secretes. The eyelid provides suction across the eye from the tear duct to the entire eyeball to keep it from drying out.

Blinking also protects the eye from irritants. Eyelashes are hairs attached to the upper and lower eyelids that create a line of defense against dust and other elements to the eye. The eyelashes catch most of these irritants before they reach the eyeball. Most animals with eyelids have an involuntary reflex to close their eyes when faced with a threat.

There are multiple muscles that control the reflex of blinking. The main muscles, in the upper eyelid, that control the opening and closing are the orbicularis oculi and levator palpebri muscles. The orbicularis oculi closes the eye, while the relaxation and contraction of the levator palpebri muscle opens the eye. The Müller’s muscle, or the superior palpebral muscle, in the upper eyelid and the inferior palpebral muscle in the lower eyelid are responsible for widening the eyes.


[edit] Blinking by categories of people
Children: Infants do not blink at the same rate of adults, in fact infants only blink at an average rate of one or two times in a minute. The reason for this difference is unknown, but it is suggested that babies do not require the same amount of eye lubrication that adults do because their eyelid opening is smaller in relation to adults. Additionally, infants do not produce tears during their first month of life. Babies also get a significant amount more sleep than adults do, and, as discussed earlier, fatigued eyes blink more. However, throughout childhood the blink rate increases, and by adolescence, it is usually equivalent to adults. [1]

Adults: Women and men do not differ in their rates of spontaneous blinking [2], averaging around 10 blinks per minute in a laboratory setting.

Gurus: It is also observed that enlightened gurus do not blink or blink less than the average person depending on their level neurological detachment. This is especially true when they are in open eyed samadhi. This only manifests in gurus of high accomplishment and is not common in the experience of most mystics. Three examples of gurus who have readily manifested this are Yogananda, Osho, and Sri Chinmoy

Answer 7

You blink to keep your eyes moist and from drying out and I dont think you can blink too often you blink as often as your eyes need it

Answer 8

for the eyes to be clean and blinking 6-10 sec is normal

Answer 9

We blink to keep our eyes from drying out and also to keep other foreign objects out, i.e. dust, bugs, etc... We blink as much as 4-6 secs.

Answer 10

hi
we blink to keep dirt out of our eyes and different people blink at different times