Vodka eyeballing

{{Short description|Ingesting alcohol by applying it to the eyes}}

Vodka eyeballing is the practice of consuming vodka by pouring it into the eye sockets, where it is absorbed through the mucous membranes of the region into the bloodstream. Reports of this practice as a new fad surfaced in the media beginning in 2010,{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/eyeballing-fad-has-teens-pouring-vodka-into-eyes |title='Eyeballing' Fad has Teens Pouring Vodka into Eyes |date=May 26, 2010 |publisher=Fox News |access-date=June 5, 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2010/05/26/2010-05-26_kids_do_the_darndest_things_the_vodka_eyeballing_fad.html |title=Kids do the darndest things: vodka eyeballing fad can have 'toxic' effect on eye health |author=Reso, Paulina |date=May 26, 2010 |work=New York Daily News |access-date=June 5, 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://theweek.com/article/index/203092/what-is-vodka-eyeballing |title=What is 'vodka eyeballing'? |date=May 18, 2010 |publisher=The Week.com |access-date=June 5, 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/24/vodka-eyeballing_n_587538.html |title=Vodka Eyeballing Migrates From Britain To The U.S.? (WATCH) |date=May 25, 2010 |publisher=Huffington Post |access-date=June 5, 2010}}{{cite news |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/campus-overload/2010/05/vodka_eyeballing.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928100622/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/campus-overload/2010/05/vodka_eyeballing.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 28, 2012 |title=Vodka eyeballing: Trend or hype? |author=Johnson, Jenna |date=May 24, 2010 |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=June 5, 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Lifestyle/Story/STIStory_530276.html |title=Eyeing a drink? Avoid this |date=May 23, 2010 |publisher=Straits Times |access-date=June 5, 2010}} as hundreds of clips of persons purporting to engage in the practice were posted on YouTube. The practice is promoted by advocates as causing rapid intoxication, but the amount of alcohol absorbed by the eye is low.{{cite journal |last1=Bosmia |first1=Anand |last2=Tubbs |first2=R. Shane |last3=Griessenauer |first3=Cristoph J. |date=October 2013 |title=Vodka Eyeballing: A potential cause of ocular injuries |journal=Journal of Injury and Violence Research |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages= 93–94|doi=10.5249/jivr.v6i2.540 |pmid=24121449 |pmc=4009175 }}

Some observers maintained that the phenomenon was not a real craze, describing the coverage as a media feeding frenzy and part of "a long history of trend pieces that come out of nowhere". The initial press coverage in British tabloid The Daily Mail was criticized for basing its entire story on an injury from a single student stunt, and extrapolating this into a "trend" after a YouTube search showed hundreds of similar videos.{{cite web |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2255927/pagenum/2 |title=Bogus Trend Smorgasbord |author=Shafer, Jack|date=June 3, 2010 |publisher=Slate.com |access-date=June 5, 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://gawker.com/5540166/vodka-eyeballing-the-dumbest-trend-piece-ever |title='Vodka Eyeballing': the Dumbest Trend Piece Ever |author=Somaiya, Ravi |work=Gawker |publisher=Gawker.com|access-date=June 5, 2010}}{{cite web |url=https://www.thestar.com/living/article/820091--vodka-eyeballing-is-seeing-believing |title=Vodka eyeballing: Is seeing believing? |author=David Graham |date=August 6, 2010 |work=Toronto Star |access-date=September 9, 2011}} Journalist Michael Strangelove said that the videos, which date back to 2006, seemed genuine and should not be dismissed as a deceptive "prank" against the media.{{cite web |url=http://www.themarknews.com:80/articles/1678-vodka-in-your-eye |title=Vodka in Your Eye |author=Michael Strangelove |date=June 10, 2010 |work=The Mark |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715190525/http://www.themarknews.com:80/articles/1678-vodka-in-your-eye |access-date=September 29, 2018|archive-date=2010-07-15 }}

The 2000 comedy film Kevin & Perry Go Large includes a character called Eyeball Paul who engages in the practice.{{cite web |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/05/23/students-taking-vodka-shots-through-the-eye-91466-26501233/ |title=Students taking vodka shots through the eye |author=James McCarthy |date=May 23, 2010 |work=Wales Online |access-date=September 9, 2011}}

The practice formed part of the fictional plot of the February 6, 2013 episode of the Canadian TV series Trauma, leading to a young woman receiving (successful) cornea transplants.{{cite web |title=Sympatico.ca Vidéo - Trauma - saison 4 épisode 3 |url=http://fr.video.sympatico.ca/toutv/series-et-teleromans/watch/trauma-saison-4-episode-3/2147497437001/#.URVsWo67bF0 |access-date=February 8, 2013}}