A post on social media has gone viral after many people were stunned to discover they have tiny holes in their eyelids - and nobody seemed to know what they are really for.
A video posted to Reddit explains the purpose of the two mysterious holes found on the inside corners of each eye, and many readers admitted they were "today years old" when they were informed they are not where tears come from.
The holes, known as lacrimal puncta, actually drain fluid away from our eyes, taking tears down a channel to our nose where they can be reabsorbed, explaining why we get the sniffles when we have a good cry.
The post, which racked up hundreds of comments on the platform, was captioned: "Today I learned that the reason we get a runny nose after crying is because the leftover fluid that wasn’t shed through tears gets drained into the nose through the 'lacrimal point' (that weird mysterious hole on your lower eyelid)."
It came as big news to some, as one person replied: "Today I learned there is a hole in my eyelid. Humans are odd as f*** wtf.
"Okay holy s*** I went to a mirror and there really is a hole there, on both sides. Were those there? The whole time? I'm freaking out a little I've looked at my eyes so much over the years there's no way but there it is."
A second wrote: "Oh so those aren't tear ducts?" to which many people replied to admit they had made the same mistake.
A third person was simply relieved, saying: "Ohh phew. Here I thought that weird hole was something bad and only I had it."
And someone else was anything but reassured, adding: "You know, I really enjoyed 10 seconds ago when I didn't know about this."
The video, posted on YouTube channel WATOP, explains: "All our tears that have not had time to fall down our cheeks dramatically get there.
"There's a nasolacrimal canal - through it the liquid is drained into the nose and then everything is clear.
"Yes, it's thanks to the lacrimal points that it's impossible to cry without all the snot. No beautiful movie crying. This is not what we asked for, evolution."
Did you know the holes were there and what their purpose is? Let us know in the comments.
