Sleep with eyes open: Causes and treatment

Sleeping with your eyes open is also one of the "bad habits" when sleeping. Although not too common, these phenomena also cause many inconveniences and affect the health of patients. Let's find out with SignsSymptomsList the causes and treatment of this sleep apnea!

Usually, people with open-eye sleep disorder will not be able to detect this phenomenon on their own. However, if your loved one does not remind you, you can rely on the following symptoms to determine if you have half-closed sleep.

What is eye-opening sleep? Symptoms of the disease

First, you need to understand what is open-eye sleep? What are the symptoms of the disease? Let's explore with SignsSymptomsList now!

What is sleep with eyes open?

Sleep with eyes open (also known as Nocturnal lagophthalmos). Simply put, it is nocturnal sleep disorder. A person keeps his or her eyes open while sleeping or cannot close them completely even after deep sleep. This is not a strange phenomenon but a very common eye disease .

Sleeping with eyes open is not an uncommon condition

Symptoms of sleeping with eyes open

People who sleep with their eyes open will not be able to detect their own pathology. It is not until other people tell them that they find out about this disease. However, you can still rely on some of the following signs to determine your pathology.

• Every morning when you wake up, you often feel that your eyes are dry, sore , or your eyes are red. The reason is that sleeping people with their eyes open will not be able to close their eyelids. Therefore, a thin layer of tears will not be created to lubricate and moisturize the eye. From there, making the sleeper open his eyes when he wakes up will have dry eyes.
• Eyes are scratched, there is a burning sensation, blurred vision. All of this is because the eyes do not close, so they are not protected from pathogens and become dehydrated.
• Feeling the eyes are easily irritated, very sensitive to light.
• Feeling like something is sticking to the eye, rubbing against the eye, causing eye discomfort.

Sleeping with eyes open not only greatly affects the eyes, easily causing eye diseases, but also negatively affects the quality of sleep. Often, people who sleep with their eyes open are often interrupted, not sleeping well. When they are sleeping, it is easy to startle because their eyes are sore or itchy.

Causes of sleeping with eyes open

Sleeping with eyes open is not a rare disease but a disease related to the eyes. Some of the main reasons for this phenomenon are as follows:

Problems with muscles or nerves or the skin around the eyelids

A weakened or paralyzed eyelid closing muscle called the orbicularis oculi will cause the patient to sleep without being able to close their eyes. Causes of muscle weakness or weakening of these nerves can be due to certain tumors pressing on the optic nerve, surgical removal of a tumor near the facial nerve, neuromuscular disease, trauma around the eye. eye area, Moebius syndrome, autoimmune conditions, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome…

In addition, weak eyelid muscles can be caused by infections originating from diseases such as chickenpox, mumps, polio, diphtheria, leprosy, botulism, etc.

Problems with the skin around the eyes will make it difficult to close the eyelids

Some other reasons for sleeping with eyes open

Another common cause of sleeping with eyes open is damage to the eyelids. Such as eyelid surgery or scarring from burns or other trauma. At this time the eyelid is damaged and the function of the eyelid is also affected, making it unable to close completely.

Protruding eye disease can also lead to sleeping with your eyes open. This is a complication commonly seen in people with an overactive thyroid gland called hyperthyroidism. People with bulging eyes will make it very difficult for the eyelids to close. Sleep disturbances , atrophy or paralysis of facial muscles also lead to eye-opening sleep.

A few other cases are attributed to the upper and lower eyelashes being too thick, making it difficult for the eyes to close completely while sleeping. Determining the exact cause of open-eye sleep is very important. It is considered the basis for making the most appropriate and effective treatment options.

Eye-opening sleep apnea treatment

According to experts, people who sleep with their eyes open should wear moisture-proof glasses at night when going to bed. They will keep your eyes moist while you sleep. Sleeping with a humidifier in the bedroom can also help keep the surrounding air moist and make patients less likely to experience dry eyes.

Eye drops will help moisturize the eyes better

However, these are only supportive measures to increase eye moisture. If sleeping with your eyes open is due to a medical condition, you need to choose one of two treatment methods as follows:

• Medication: Eye drops are a way to help keep your eyes healthy. You can use medications such as: eye drops or artificial tears , eye ointment to prevent scratching.
• Eye surgery: In case your eyelids are severely paralyzed, you must have eyelid surgery or implant implants in your eyelids to increase eyelid weight, thereby helping your eyes to close while you sleep.

Sleeping with eyes open is not an uncommon phenomenon, if the disease is not too serious, just use topical medication and eye drops as directed by your doctor. However, if the disease is severe and there is a risk of affecting vision, you should consult a doctor to consider surgery to limit serious consequences later.