The Gross-Out Party Favorite: Flipping Your Eyelids
February 11, 2008 by Liberty Kontranowski
Filed under Blogosphere, Extreme, How To, Oddities, Web, Your Body
Wanna give new meaning to the phrase “Flip your lid”? Do the eyelid flip and see how many new friends you can make.
Oddly enough, this remarkably icky (but captivating) talent is shared by more folks than one might think. In fact, some people’s lid-flipping is not even voluntary and there is a real, live scientific explanation behind the poor guy in a job interview whose lid is suddenly covering his pupil.
It’s called Floppy Eyelid Syndrome and the poor schmucks (aka party favorites) who have this are lacking a normal amount of elastin (the stuff that keeps skin from drooping and sagging). Their lids become overly-stretchy and can turn inside-out without warning. There have even been cases where the upper eyelid stretches all the way to the eyebrow and the lower lids can be pulled forward as much as 2 cm (bust out the ruler for reference – 2 cm is a lot more impressive than it sounds).
As stomach-turning as this all sounds, it’s actually quite likely you’ve come across someone with this condition. You’ll find it most in obese, middle-aged men, particularly those with obstructive sleep apnea. If this is you, or if you have chronic pink eye (just think of all the nasties that can score smooth access into your peepers around floppy lids), maybe you’re afflicted with this oddity (FYI: lots of people don’t even realize they have it).
If you don’t have this talent, but would like to acquire it, check out this lovely How To from across the web. It may take some practice, but if gross-out’s your M.O., then it’s well worth the effort.
