Eyeball licking in the name of love. That may sound strange but the expression of love also known as oculolinctus or worming has taken Japan by storm. The bizarre fetish has caused an increased in the incidents of eye infection and experts warn of far more serious consequences.
Teenagers in Japan practice eyeball licking is not really a new trend but was put into spotlight recently by a compilation of accounts published on Naver Matome, a Japanese website.
The Naver Matome post was translated by Japan Crush and basically recounts the experience of a teacher, referred to as Mr. Y, who noticed that a lot of students were showing up in class with styes and covering them with eye patches.
"After class one day, I went into the equipment store in the gymnasium to tidy up. The door had been left open, and when I looked inside, a male pupil and a female pupil had their faces close together and were kind of fumbling around. Could it be bullying? I wondered, but when I had a good look, the boy was licking the girl's eye," Mr. Y recalled.
The teacher later found out that one third of the year six students knew of the eye ball licking practice.
A simple search on YouTube will reveal that the eyeball licking fetish does not only happen in Japan but have reached places such as the United States and the Virgin Islands.
"My boyfriend started licking my eyeballs years ago and I just loved it. I just love it because it turns me on, like sucking on my toes. It makes me feel all tingly," Electrika Energias from the Virgin Islands said in an interview with the Huffington Post.
Eye experts, however, are worried of the possible effects of eyeball licking.
"Nothing good can come of this. There are ridges on the tongue that can cause a corneal abrasion. And if a person hasn't washed out their mouth, they might put acid from citrus products or spices into the eye," warned Dr. David Granet, an ophthalmologist from San Diego.
Experts have also agreed that eyeball licking can also cause pink eye where the membrane lining the underside of the eyelids and the white portion of the eye becomes swollen.
"You might have been the old superstition that masturbation causes your vision to blur, but eyeball licking can actually cause blindness," Huffington Post cited Dr. Phillip Rizzuto of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, as saying.
Nonetheless, the eye as an erogenous zone might not be far from true, explained an expert. "The cornea is the most innervated part of the body. That's why it might feel good to have it licked. It's the same thing with sucking toes - they're so sensitive because the body needs to be able to detect minor particles and other disturbances. If you're so inclined, that's the plus," said Connecticut ophthalmologist Dr. Robert Noecker in an interview with Medical Daily.
Are you willing to try some tongue-eye action for a momentary turn-on, knowing the risks?
The video below shows that even non-Japanese teens have thought of this way back 2008:
