Eli5 why does pressing my palms against my eyes create a kaleidoscope effect?
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Beware incorrect answers to this, ie ones that say it’s harmless. I worked in retinal ophtho for some years and was actually warned against doing this. A retinal specialist saw me rubbing my eyes at the nurse station and scolded me about how it’s applying pressure to my retina and optic nerve. That’s why you get the colors and patterns too – from mechanically applying force to these photo-receiving cells. And let me tell you from experience, the retina and optic nerve are about as delicate as our anatomy gets. So from then on, when I rub my eyes, I’ve only applied pressure to the orbital bone
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