Posted by: Georgia Eye Physicians and Surgeons in Latest News, Uncategorized

The eyes are one of the most intricately structured parts of the body, second only to the brain in overall complexity.  Made up of more than 200 million working parts, the human eye constantly processes visual information to be interpreted by the brain.  But even though we rely on them every day, most don’t appreciate how amazing these little organs really are.  Here are some fun facts you may not know about your eyes.

  • Treating Your Eye Condition with Specialized Surgery FACT: The average human eyeball is about 24 millimeters wide. By comparison, a gumball from a grocery store gumball machine is about 27 to 28 millimeters wide.  The lens itself, which sits right behind the pupil and focuses light that enters the eye like the lens of a camera, is almost exactly the same size as a plain M&M candy.  The eyes grow in length throughout childhood but then, unlike the nose and ears, remain stable for the remainder of a person’s life.
  • FACT: The human eye can distinguish about 10 million different colors and, in the right conditions and lighting, can see the light of a single candle from 14 miles away. If the eye was a digital camera, it would have 576 megapixels.  The camera on the IPhone 6 has 8 megapixel resolution and the highest quality professional digital cameras have, at most, around 80.
  • FACT: There is really no such thing as “perfect” vision. Having 20/20 vision in a routine eye exam means that you can see at 20 feet what an average person can see at 20 feet.  A hawk, on the other hand, can see at 20 feet what an average human would have to be three feet away to see, giving them effectively 20/3 vision.
  • FACT: The eyes blink about 12 to 17 times every minute, spreading oils and mucus secretions across the surface of the eyes in order to keep them clean and moist. That’s about 10,000 to 14,000 times in a 14-hour day, and between 3.6 and 5.2 million times a year.  The average blink lasts for about 1/10th of a second.  Chronic dry eye is a potentially serious condition that can be treated in a number of different ways.
  • FACT: The eye muscles are the most active muscles in the human body and are actually 100 times stronger than they need to be to perform their function. However, they can become fatigued and experience eye strain, particularly when reading or staring at a computer, because the intense focus causes them to blink less often.  When working at a computer, you should follow the 20-20-20 rule – look at something twenty feet away from your computer every twenty minutes for twenty seconds.

If you have questions about diseases of the eye, or would like to schedule an appointment for an eye exam, please contact Georgia Eye Physicians and Surgeons today to make an appointment. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ for more tips for healthy eyes.