India, Nov. 15 -- Do you aggressively rub your eyes in the hope that the nagging itch stops? That immediate respite after the itch goes may be soothing, but you may be setting yourself up for long-term damage to your eyes, even permanent changes to the cornea, and even requiring very serious medical intervention.

So what exactly may go wrong if you rub your eyes? Family medicine physician who's based out of England, Dr Sermed Mezher, addressed this common habit in his October 9 Instagram post. He reacted to a clip of a content creator asking if it's normal to hear a pop after rubbing your eyes.

Dr Mezher assured that while the popping sound is normal because it's just the air entering the tear duct, rubbing is something you need to be c...