“Your eyes will freeze like that!”

“Don’t cross your eyes, they’ll freeze like that!”

Have you heard something like that before from a parent or grandparent?  For the most part, it’s a fallacy, an old wive’s tale, or urban myth.

In some cases, crossing your eyes for short periods of time could actually strengthen the convergence muscles of the eyes and increase the muscle  flexibility.   There is no downside to kids doing that for short periods of time when making “funny faces.”   If it were a habitual thing, perhaps it is a sign of an underlying eye problem and they are not doing it on purpose.   If you see a frequent eye turn to doesn’t seem to be on purpose, definitely have your child’s eyes examined for any problems as soon as possible.

So if your kids are fooling around and making their eyes cross for a few seconds, don’t worry.

The phrase, “You’ll shoot your eye out!”, now there is truth to that one!

Courtesy of Dumas Vision Source, PLLC and Dr Tory W. Moore, Optometric Glaucoma Specialist.    Serving the Dumas, Texas,  Moore County and upper Texas Panhandle area for 21 years.   Call (806) 935-2020 for appointment or visit our optical gallery without an appointment.  Connect on Twitter @eyedocdumas 1111  and  like our Facebook business page:  Dumas Vision Source You also can visit our website www.visionsource-dumas.com for more information.   Tory Moore, OD  – “A Hometown Eye Doctor You Know and Can Trust!”