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Journalism of Courage
We have heard about shaving beards, heads, legs and other body parts, but do you know there are special barbers in China who shave eyelids? Yes, imagine, a sharp razor trimming and cleaning your ever so delicate eyelids! Quite horrendous, right? But people opting for it say it is their eyes “feel better”, however, not so much for the onlookers, who are justifiably freaked out.
Xiong Gaowu, a street barber in China’s Chengdu gently scrapes a straight razor along the INSIDE of his customer’s eyelid. “You should be gentle, very, very gentle,” told Xiong to Reuters.
The traditional practice is known as “blade wash eyes” in Mandarin and appears to unblock moisturizing sebaceous glands along the rim of the eyelid, an ophthalmologist who works at a nearby hospital in Chengdu said.
But doctors warn about infection. “If he can properly sterilize the tools that he uses, I can still see there is a space for this technique to survive,” Dr Qu Chao said.
As ‘daring’ customers sit on a chair to try the unique cleaning technique, doctor explains how it actually works. “Patients will feel their eyes are dry and uncomfortable when the [sebaceous] glands are blocked,” she said. “When he is shaving, it is most likely that he is shaving the openings of these glands,” hence the relief or the comfort.
While some elderly customers swear by him youngsters are afraid to try. Will you try it?
