Rhianna Benson
The human body is a weird and wacky place.
For example, the stomach has to create new lining every few days to prevent it from digesting itself. Plus, if you were to lay out all of your body's blood vessels end to end, they'd be long enough to stretch around the world, twice.
Bonkers, I know.
Apparently, however, an element of the human eye has provided a source of fascination for several social media users - more specifically, the tiny hole that sits on the lower lash line, right in the inner corner.
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A large part of the hype was ignited recently after the Instagram account @girlscenario shared a heavily zoomed-in clip of a woman poking around inside her eye. "What are these little holes next to my eye?" the user demanded, sparking a colossal debate in the comments.
"Windshield wiper fluid sprayers," one joked.
A second teased: "Someone said eye piercing."
A third chimed in to point out: "Guys I hate to break it to u but they do NOT teach us this stuff in school."
"For longest time i thought these are my birth marks," a third confessed.
But as pointed out by a number of viewers, the minuscule holes on full display in the viral video are actually the user's tear ducts.
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, tear ducts are just one segment of a much larger tear drainage system.
Also known as nasolacrimal ducts, tears are drained through these tiny holes via tiny, tube-like structures through the nasal bone to the back of a person's nose. They help to keep their eyes moisturised and remove debris from the area.
As pointed out by Mayo Clinic, tear ducts are crucial for preventing tear buildup.
In the rare circumstance that they somehow become blocked, however, this could result in persistent watering, discomfort or infections.
This condition is known technically as dacryostenosis. It occurs when the drainage system is obstructed.
In most cases, this is caused by a thin membrane not opening properly at birth, and as such, it's common in infants.
Age-related narrowing could also be a factor in causing a blockage, as could infections or injuries in adults.
Symptoms of a tear duct blockage include watery eyes, sticky discharge being released from the area, crusty eyelids, and occasionally, swelling in the inner corner of the eye.
In the majority of cases involving babies, a tear duct blockage resolves itself. In adults, however, medication, massage, or surgical procedures like dacryocystorhinostomy might be necessary to reopen the passage.