Let’s see. There is the garlic up the nose trick, the Benedryl challenge, or the dry scoping protein choking act. Well, mucus eye fishing is TicTok’s next trick. People are sharing videos of themselves pulling mucus from out of their eyes.

What is Mucus Fishing Syndrome?

Mucus fishing syndrome is an addictive, compulsive behavior. It is when a person removes a protective mucus membrane from their eye. If you pull down the bottom of your eyelid, you will see a thick white membrane. But that is not the mucus. The mucus is right below the white membrane. You can see a very thin transparent line. That’s what people are removing, fishing, from their eyes. By simply using your finger, a cotton swab, or tissue, you can pull and fish out the mucus that looks like a piece of string.

The problem in doing this frequently leads to irritation. And the more regularly you remove it, the more and faster it keeps coming back. The mucus functions to protect the eye from fungus, bacteria, or irritants. It also acts as a lubricant for the eyeball to move around.

Symptoms of Mucus Fishing Syndrome are:

• Redness of the eyes
• Infection
• Inflammation
• Pain

Many conditions cause your eyes to produce too much mucus—for example, allergies, irritants, and bacteria.

Dry Eyes

Dry eyes mean poor lubrication and poor-quality tears. I did not think your tears could be of poor quality till I went to the eye doctor for an eye dryness issue. When your eyes are dry, it causes your eyes to overproduce an excessive amount of tears. Usually, the tears are slightly thick with mucus.

Conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis is contagious. Viruses, fungus, or bacteria cause it. Children usually get this when their eye starts to form a crusty build-up on and around the eye.

Blepharitis

When your eyes have poor or not enough “good oil” in your tears. It inflames your eyelid causing excessive mucus, tears, and redness. Also, your eyes can experience a crusty formation on the eyelashes as well.

OCD- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

OCD causes a person to be obsessed with specific behavior or action. Since the mucus comes back very quickly, Mucus Fishing Syndrome can be bad for a person who has OCD.

Mucus eye fishing is not death-defying or something that leads to death. However, the influence of something that no one has ever heard about before leads to someone trying it. Not knowing what you are doing can produce a self-inflict wound to your eye and unintentional permanent eye damage and vision. Also, constantly removing the mucus can lead to more and more eye infections.

It is very complex to understand why kids and people do these things. Maybe it is out of curiosity or the excitement of the dare involved. Perhaps people feel safe, and nothing will happen to them because of the multitude doing it. That is the scary part about TicTok and its crazy trends.

There is no strict regulation about what gets uploaded and posted, so, let’s wait to see what’s next?