Welcome to the longest
staring contest
of your life.
You’re about to go seven days
without blinking.
Blinking keeps your eyeballs lubricated
and clear of particles.
Without this reflex that happens
about every four seconds,
you’d have to deal with very dry,
very painful eyes.
When you blink,
you release a tear film that helps keep
the surface of your eyeball smooth.
This smooth surface also allows light
to properly focus
so you don’t have blurry vision.
“What? Who said that?”
And since there are no blood vessels
that reach your cornea,
your eyes are dependent
on this film for oxygen.
Plus it contains enzymes
that fight bacteria and prevent infection.
So without blinking for a week,
how soon would your eyes get blurry,
dry and riddled with bacteria?
For the next 168 hours,
you won’t be allowed to blink at all.
Forget about relying on willpower
to beat this reflex.
You’d need some serious help
keeping those peepers peeled.
How about a lid speculum?
Yeah, it might look like it belongs
in a torture chamber,
but this device is usually used for surgery.
And it would be your best bet.
Just place a ring under your upper
and lower eyelid.
Simple, right?
Good luck trying to blink now.
Start the countdown.
After just four seconds
you’d be fighting off
the natural instinct to blink.
And oh, what a fight you're in for.
With no way to properly
lubricate your eyes,
they’d begin to dry out.
Every second they would
get redder and redder.
This would be due to tiny blood vessels
expanding on their surface.
Once you take away that
protective film of tears,
your vision would blur
as dust and particles settle in.
Your eyeballs would have
an uneven surface.
Light wouldn’t even be able
to pass through.
You’d be in a real pickle now.
More moisture would be evaporating
from eyes than is being replenished.
The burning would become a gritty,
stinging feeling.
And it's going to get worse.
You’d be absolutely desperate
to blink now.
It would feel as if forever has passed,
but it’s only been a few minutes.
So buckle up,
the challenge ain't over yet.
To distract yourself,
you could go out for a walk.
But guess what?
Yeah, that would be bad idea too.
You’ve got no way of protecting your eyes
from the UV rays of the Sun.
Totally exposed,
this could burn your corneas and leave you
temporarily blind for up to 48 hours.
All you’d want to do now
is get some sleep.
Wow, not so fast.
There’s a reason sleeping
is nicknamed shut-eye.
Yeah, of course.
Your eyes would need to close for that.
Your frustration combined
with the exhaustion
of insomnia would add to the already
serious pain and discomfort
you’d be experiencing.
Hopefully, you’d be one of 20% of people
who can sleep with their eyes open.
With each passing minute
the risk of infection would increase.
Your eyelids would be itching.
You'd have mucus,
oil and skin cells being discharged.
I doubt that would relieve you in any way.
You would also suffer
from the lack of oxygen
going to your corneas,
leading to corneal hypoxia.
It can be a common complication
for people with contact lenses.
But for you it’s just another crisis
to add to your list.
Your already manic-looking eyes
would swell and, if left untreated,
could result in the death of cells.
This would lead to long-term damage.
Now, through sheer will and determination
you’d make it to the end of the week.
Though you’d be miserable
to say the least.
You’d be swollen,
in agony and essentially blind.
"I'm legally blind, I can see. Barely".
A long road to recovery awaits you
following this staring contest.
At the end of day seven
you'd finally be allowed to blink,
something you should have done
over 100,000 times already.
And that could be the most painful
moment of all.
You’d close your eyes
and a week's worth of dirt and grime
would scratch over your corneas.
With all the nerve endings they contain,
this would be absolutely excruciating.
Now, if there’s one silver lining,
you’d now finally be able
to close your eyes
and get some sleep.
Unless you couldn’t sleep anymore.
But that’s a story for another WHAT IF.