Rheum

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Rheum ( ; from Greek: ????? rheuma "a flowing, rheum"), also known as gound , is a thin mucus naturally expelled from the eyes, nose, or mouth during sleep (see mucopurulent expenditure). Rheum dries and congregates as a crust in the corner of the eye or mouth, in the eyelid, or under the nose. It is formed by a combination of mucus (in the case of the eye, which consists of mucin discharged from the cornea or conjunctiva), nasal mucus, blood cells, skin cells, or dust. Rheum from the eye is very common. Dry rheum is commonly called sleep , sleepy beans , sleepy buds , sleepy sand , eye goop , cheese , or drowsy dust .

When the individual is awake, flashing eyelids causes the rheum to be washed with tears through the nasolacrimal ducts. The absence of this action during sleep, however, results in a small amount of dry rheum collected in the corner of the eye, especially in children.

A number of conditions can increase rheum production in the eye. In the case of allergic conjunctivitis, the buildup of rheum can become quite a lot, often preventing the sufferer from opening the eyes after waking without clearing the previous eye area. The presence of pus in a sample of severe rheum buildup may indicate dry eye or conjunctivitis, among other infections.

In infants, tear ducts (which dry the tears) sometimes fail to open, resulting in tear bursts to the cheeks (epifora) and crumb deposition in the surrounding skin.